Sausage-Stuffed Manicotti

This recipe says it makes 10 stuffed manicotti, however, I made 14 which is enough for two meals. We all really like this recipe and would make it again. I am surprised that I didn't even miss the mozzarella and is also a big reason why the recipe is so low in fat.

Sausage-Stuffed Manicotti
(http://www.cookinglight.com/)

Yield
10 servings (serving size: 1 stuffed manicotti)

Ingredients
10 uncooked manicotti
Cooking spray
1 pound sweet turkey Italian sausage
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups fat-free milk
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
2 cups tomato-basil pasta sauce (such as Newman's Own)
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Preparation
1. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat.
2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Remove casings from sausage. Add sausage to pan; cook 5 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. Add onion and bell pepper to pan; sauté 5 minutes or until tender.
3. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour; cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly with a whisk. Remove from heat; gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk. Return pan to heat; bring to a boil. Cook 6 minutes or until thickened, stirring constantly with a whisk. Remove from heat; stir in black pepper. Add 1/2 cup milk mixture to sausage mixture; stir well.
4. Preheat oven to 350°.
5. Spoon about 1/3 cup sausage mixture into each manicotti; arrange manicotti in a single layer in a 13 x 9–inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle mozzarella over manicotti; spread remaining milk mixture evenly over mozzarella. Top milk mixture with pasta sauce, spreading to cover. Sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake at 350° for 35 minutes or until bubbly.

Nutritional Information
Calories: 292
Fat: 11.5g (sat 4.9g,mono 3.5g,poly 1.8g)
Protein: 19.6g
Carbohydrate: 25.8g
Fiber: 1.4g
Cholesterol: 57mg
Iron: 1.8mg
Sodium: 719mg
Calcium: 193mg

Beverly O'Ferrall, Linkwood, Md., Cooking Light, APRIL 2009