Creamy Penne with Spinach & Tomatoes
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 bunch spinach, stems removed and chopped
10 ounces penne pasta
2 tablespoons margarine
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup nondairy milk (I use soy)
2 tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and diced
sea salt and ground pepper, to taste
1. In a large pot, saute garlic in olive oil on medium heat for about 2 minutes. Add chopped spinach, stirring to coat evenly.
2. Cover and simmer until wilted, about 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Set aside when done. Meanwhile, start boiling pasta and set a timer for 10 minutes. This is the perfect timing for al dente.
3. In a small pot, melt margarine, then add flour, stirring to break up any chunks. Add milk, stirring constantly. As soon as the sauce starts to bubble, the sauce will continue to thicken. I like to take the pot off the heat about a minute after the sauce starts bubbling.
4. When pasta is done, drain and add to large pot with the spinach. Add the cream sauce, tomatoes, salt and pepper, and mix well.
SO HOW'D IT GO?
It was okay... I think that the sauce could definitely use more kick, i added the minced garlic, some oregano, salt and pepper but it definitely needed more. Maybe some cracked pepper and a lot more garlic. I definitely liked the spinach with the penne (I boiled it instead of frying it).
Excellent with some modifications... I didn't have any tomatoes of any sort, and was out of spinach, but the sauce sounded great, so I used it as a base. So... basically I totally altered the recipe.
--lots of seasoning! I put in Mrs. Dash, seasoned salt, and Emeril's original seasoning, just a few shakes each. I also used a pinch each of sage and thyme.
--sauteed baby portabella mushrooms with minced garlic... mmmm.
--half cup of nutritional yeast added as the sauce was thickening
--used two cups of soymilk and extra flour to compensate
I served it over whole wheat rotini pasta, which was fabulous. Later, I ate the leftovers over brown rice, which was equally delicious. I'll definitely be using the (modified) recipe again.
This was awesome. I didn't use tomatoes (didn't have any) and added lots of seasoning to the sauce, including garlic salt, a couple shakes of vegan parm, a ground black/white/red pepper mix, and a bit of nut yeast. I used a pound of pasta, and doubled the sauce, but will definitely double the spinach next time, cuz it's awesome all mixed together. Thanks! Will be making this again and again! :)>>>
:-[ this recipe looks so delicious and I really wanted to try it. I don't know why but mine did not turn out as fabulous as everyone elses. It had no flavor and I just kept adding seasonings and I just vouldn't get it right. I think I might try it again and add more veggies like other people did because I think this recipe could be amazing.
This was definitely good. However, the sauce was a bit bland until I added some nutritional yeast (about a half cup of the flakes, but I didn't really measure), a lot of salt, pepper and some basil. After that? Mmmmm.
This was delicious! I sauteed some mushrooms in with the spinach, which made it a lot better in my opinion. I was out of garlic so I just added a lot of pasta seasoning from a jar, and it was still pretty flavorful.
This is a pretty good basic recipe. I used curly mustard greens b/c that's what we had. I also added lots of salt, pepper, nutmeg, and garlic powder. I made more sauce because I had a lot of greens and pasta. Needs lots of seasoning! : )
I made this tonight, it was pretty good. Could have used twice the cream sauce though, and more tomatoes.
This is so yummy! ;D Very creamy, healthy, and flavorful, but not too rich like Alfredo. What makes this dish wow is the fresh spinach and the asparagus!
Some minor adjustments:
We added a package/bunch of asparagus, cut into 3 inch pieces.
We first steamed about 1/3 cup diced onion and the asparagus in a little water on a skillet. Then we added 2 cloves minced garlic, 2 mushrooms diced, and the chopped spinach and let it cook on medium low heat.
When the cream sauce was done, we just added it into the skillet of veggies and let it simmer. We also sprinkled it heavily with dried oregano and basil.
We didn't use diced tomatoes, we just served the pasta with 4 tomato wedges that were slightly heated to soften them. When we served dinner, we heavily sprinkled nutritional yeast flakes all over, which made it taste so yummy and creamier. We also drizzled a little olive oil over the top of our individual portions to add some flavor and nutrition.
this was definitely a quick and easy good one! we didn't take the time to chop up the spinach - just tossed it in - and also used fresh tomatoes. i think i might try a dash or two of nutmeg next time to see if that amps up the flavor. thanks for sharing as i'm always on the hunt for simple, quick, and good recipes!
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