mediterranean pasta with ground turkey

Easy week night pasta dishes have become my go to dinner when I run out of time and money! Pasta gets a bad rap for being unhealthy and not so good for you, but there are so many healthy options on the market today, that it seems crazy not to jump in!

For this recipe I used Banza pasta. It is a pasta made from chickpeas, which makes it gluten and grain free, without trading on taste. I keep it in the pantry for all of our favorite pasta creations.

This Mediterranean pasta of sorts was made on the fly, with ingredients I had on hand. The thing about pasta dishes is, you can substitute and add and really not change the flavor profile that much. Feel free to use this as a template for what you have on hand and make it your own.

The sauce for this pasta was a kale pesto from Trader Joe’s that looked really good with clean ingredients. You can find it where the hummus is sold, but you can also make your own Pesto for this recipe.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 box Banza pasta

• 1/4 cup pesto of your choice

• 1 container organic mushrooms, sliced

• 1/3 cup Kalamata olives, sliced in half

• 1 pound organic ground turkey, seasoned to your liking

• 1/2 cup grated Romano cheese, plus more for serving

• Fresh basil for garnish

DIRECTIONS

• Boil water for pasta

• In a separate skillet, add olive oil or avocado oil to coat the bottom of the pan

• Add ground turkey, when it begins to cook, add in mushrooms

• Sauté until mushrooms are cooked to your liking

• When pasta is finished (cook according to directions), drain and add to skillet

• Stir in pesto to hot pasta, add cheese and olives and extra oil if needed (you can even set aside a 1/2 cup pasta water to use for the sauce)

• Mix all ingredients together, top with extra cheese and SERVE