Penne Rosa

I love, love, love pasta. I could eat pasta every day, for lunch and dinner, and I would be quite happy. When we were newlyweds, I may have made a lot of pasta meals, because I was afraid to step out of my box. Thankfully, I have an awesome husband who pushed gently helped me out of my kitchen box, and I branch out a bit more now. 

Upon reflection, we still eat a lot of pasta, but the things I do with pasta have varied. (Don't be judgey, I like pasta.) I have branched out and cook with rice a lot too... I even got a 20ish pound bag of rice at Sam's Club last week! Nate was so proud, I thought he would cry.

Just kidding, my husband is all manly-ish and doesn't cry. Especially over sappy movies or his son doing sweet things. Nope.

Wait, where was I? Oh, yes, pasta. I saw an awesome recipe for Penne Rosa with Shrimp recently (shortly after making dinner for my little brother),  and decided I had to try it. Unfortunately, shrimp wasn't on sale and I am cheap frugal, so I switched to chicken, but I think shrimp would've been amazing with this!

(See below for detailed comments on the recipe.) 

(Yes, my camera is still MIA. Sorry.)

 

Penne Rosa

Ingredients

• 12 ounces penne (or whatever pasta you have on hand)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced (or more.... remember, you can never have too much garlic)
• 1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes
• 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced (if you actually remember to add mushrooms to your grocery list)
• 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 4 cups fresh spinach, or 1/2  to 1 cup frozen
• 10 ounces medium raw shrimp, peeled and deveined (can easily sub out for chicken)
• 1 cup marinara sauce
• ⅔ cup plain Greek yogurt
• ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese

Instructions

Cook penne according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

In a large skillet with a lid, heat olive oil over medium-low heat. Add in garlic and red pepper flakes, cook for 2 minutes or until garlic begins to soften. Add in mushrooms, tomatoes, salt and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes, or until mushrooms begin to release their water.

Turn heat up to medium-high; add shrimp. Cook for 1-2 minutes, or until shrimp are pink and opaque. If using another meat, simply add cooked meat and simmer until meat is heated through. Remove from heat, add in spinach and cover skillet. Let wilt for 2 minutes if using fresh.

Remove lid and place skillet back over low heat. Add the penne, Greek yogurt and pasta sauce. Stir until mixed well. Serve topped with parmesan cheese.

Yield/Time

Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 10 minutes

Makes: 6 servings

Source (for original): Back to Her Roots

All in all, we liked the taste. I would really like to try it with shrimp, but I'm going to have to watch for a sale. (I am soooo my mother's child.....) 

Note on the spinach: This is the second time recently that I've added frozen spinach to something, and I wanted to start small. Previously, I've added wayyyy too much spinach, and that has drowned the other tastes. Thus, we only used 1/2 cup. If using frozen spinach, I think you would be safe adding a full cup.

As always, comments are love.