3 Cheese Skinny Penne Bake

Three cheeses and pasta??  Ummm, yes please! This is a super easy weeknight meal that is lightened up with reduced-fat cheeses to make a great pasta bake.  The portion size isn't huge, but you could easily pair this meal with a veggie side for some extra nutrition.  My husband LOVED this and we both enjoyed that it made lots of servings - it made it easy to pack a serving for lunch the next day!

Servings: 8
Serving Size: About 1 cup
Points Plus: 5pp
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook/Bake Time: 30-35 minutes

Ingredients:
1/2 cup onion, diced
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 jar of pasta marinara sauce (24 oz.)
12 oz. penne pasta
1/2 cup cottage cheese, low-fat
1/2 cup ricotta cheese, part-skim
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, reduced-fat/part-skim
1 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1 Tbsp. fresh oregano, diced
1 Tbsp. fresh parsley, diced

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  In a large pot, cook the penne according to the directions on the packages.  Make sure your pasta is al dente because it will cook more while baking in the oven.  In a large skillet, add the onion and garlic and sauté over medium heat until tender, about 3-5 minutes.  Add in the whole jar of pasta sauce to the skillet and stir until well combined.  Lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.  Combine the cottage cheese, ricotta and 1 1/2 cups of mozzarella cheese in a medium bowl.  Stir in the fresh herbs to the cheese mixture.  Assemble the pasta bake in a 9x13 pan.  Start with 1/2 of the pasta and sauce mixture, spread evenly on the bottom of the pan.  Next, layer in all of the cheese mixture; spread evenly across the first pasta layer.  Finish with the remaining pasta and sprinkle the top with the remaining 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese.  Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Tip:
Don't have any fresh herbs on hand from your herb garden?  That's okay, substitute in dried herbs instead.  Use 1 teaspoon for every tablespoon of fresh.

XOXO Megan

Recipe adapted from Skinnymom