Sausage-Loaded Pizza-Bellas

By ldelmas

½ of recipe (1 pizza-bella): 189 calories, 6.5g fat, 565mg sodium, 14g carbs, 3g fiber, 4.5g sugars, 17g protein

Ingredients

• Ingredients:
• 2 sticks light string cheese
• 2 large portabella mushrooms, stems chopped and reserved
• 2 frozen meatless or turkey sausage patties with 80 calories or less each
• 1/4 cup diced bell pepper
• 1/4 cup diced onion
• 1/4 cup pizza sauce
• Optional toppings: garlic powder, red pepper flakes

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray.

Break each string cheese stick into thirds and place in a blender or food processor – blend at high speed until shredded. (Or pull into shreds and roughly chop.)

Place mushroom caps on the sheet, rounded sides down. Bake until slightly tender, about 8 minutes. Remove sheet, but leave oven on.

Meanwhile, bring a skillet sprayed with nonstick spray to medium heat. Cook sausage patties for 4 minutes. Flip patties and add pepper, onion, and mushroom stems. Cook, stirring veggies, until sausage patties are cooked through and veggies are slightly softened and lightly browned, about 5 minutes.

Transfer cooked chopped veggies to a medium bowl and blot away excess moisture. Chop or crumble sausage.

Blot away excess moisture from mushroom caps. Spread with pizza sauce, sprinkle with shredded string cheese, and top with cooked veggies and sausage.

Bake until mushrooms are tender, filling is hot, and string cheese has melted, 8 to 10 minutes. Enjoy!