Whole-Wheat Spaghetti & Turkey-Lentil Meat Sauce with Roasted Broccoli
690 cal · 45g protein · 88g carbs · 17g fat
Toddler tip: The lentils cook down until they disappear into the sauce, so it looks like a normal meat sauce. Give her the full serving of spaghetti, cut short for easy eating, and the broccoli florets.
Low-carb fork: Serve the sauce over roasted broccoli, zucchini noodles or a smaller portion of whole-wheat spaghetti; the lentils already make the sauce filling.
Ingredients
Turkey & Red Lentil Meat Sauce
- 1½ lbslean ground turkey (93%)
- 1 tbspolive oil
- 1yellow onion, finely diced
- 2carrots, grated
- 4 clovesgarlic, minced
- 2 tbsptomato paste
- 1 can (28 oz)crushed tomatoes
- 2 cupslow-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
- ½ cupdry red lentils, rinsed
- 2 tspItalian seasoning
- ½ tspsalt
- ½ tspblack pepper
- 1 tspred wine vinegar or balsamic
Spaghetti
- 1 lbwhole-wheat spaghetti
- ½ cupgrated Parmesan, plus more for serving
Roasted Broccoli
- 2 large crowns (about 1½ lbs)broccoli, cut into florets
- 1 tbspolive oil
- ½ tspgarlic powder
- ½ tspsalt
- 1lemon, cut in wedges
Instructions
1Start the sauce: warm the olive oil in a large deep skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Brown the turkey 6–8 minutes, breaking it up. Add the onion and grated carrots and cook 4–5 minutes until soft.
2Stir in the garlic, tomato paste and Italian seasoning for 1–2 minutes until the paste darkens. Add the broth and lentils, bring to a boil, then add the crushed tomatoes, ½ tsp salt and the pepper. Simmer partly covered 25–30 minutes, stirring now and then, until the lentils are completely soft and the sauce coats a spoon. Uncover for the last 10 minutes if it looks thin, or add a splash of water if it gets too thick. Put a large covered pot of water on to boil when the sauce goes on to simmer.
3When the sauce has about 20 minutes left, heat the oven to 425°F. Toss the broccoli with the olive oil, garlic powder and salt on a rimmed baking sheet and roast 18–22 minutes, stirring once, until the edges are browned. Squeeze the lemon over it when it comes out.
4When the sauce has about 12 minutes left, salt the boiling water generously and cook the spaghetti until al dente (usually 9–11 minutes for whole wheat). Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water, then drain.
5Stir 1 tsp red wine vinegar or balsamic into the sauce. Return the spaghetti to its pot with the sauce and Parmesan over low heat for 1 minute, adding pasta water a splash at a time so the sauce clings to every noodle. Serve topped with more Parmesan, with the roasted broccoli alongside.