Penne Rosa
I've been holding out on you guys. For a few weeks now, I've been stockpiling recipes so I could have some fun yumminess to share while I was chillaxing on the beach this week.
I felt particularly guilty about holding onto this one because it had all the elements of my favorite kind of recipe: supremely easy, speedy, delicious and healthy. But think of it is my gift in exchange for disappearing for a week. I go hang out on the beach for a week and you get a delicious recipe. Fair trade, right?
Okay, maybe not. But this is still a good one!
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The inspiration for this weeknight pasta dish actually comes from my eternal laziness. My office is directly above a Noodles and Company restaurant and more often than not, laziness wins out when I need lunch and I just make the quick trip down there to grab lunch.
A lot of times I get their Med Salad (so yum!) but sometimes I'll go for their Penne Rosa. You can serve this dish up vegetarian, but I often will add some plumped sautéed shrimp or cooked chicken breast to help up the protein factor.
My husband said this was his favorite pasta dish I've ever made (and I've made quite a few). I take that as high praise! Oh, and the best part? Start to finish: ready in 15 minutes. Yeah. You need to make this.
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📖 Recipe
Penne Rosa
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes
- 8 ounces button mushrooms sliced
- 2 medium tomatoes about ½ lb. chopped
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 4 cups fresh spinach
- ½ cup marinara sauce
- 12 ounces whole wheat penne cooked
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- ⅓ cup plain Greek yogurt
Instructions
- In a large skillet with a lid, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-low heat. Add in 4 cloves garlic and 1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes, cook for 2 minutes or until garlic begins to soften.
- Add in 8 ounces button mushrooms, 2 medium tomatoes, Salt and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes, or until mushrooms begin to release their water.
- Add in 4 cups fresh spinach and cover skillet. Let spinach wilt for 2 minutes. Remove lid, and stir in ½ cup marinara sauce. Remove the skillet from the heat, and let rest for 5 minutes.
- Stir in ⅓ cup plain Greek yogurt, and then add 12 ounces whole wheat penne. Stir until sauce is mixed well and all pasta and veggies are coated. Heat until just warmed through. Divide into pasta bowls and serve topped with ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese.
Video
This was really yummy! I subbed chicken instead of shrimp and made the mistake of using canned tomatoes instead of fresh which made it super watery (yikes!) I ended up salvaging it by removing a lot of the liquid before adding the greek yogurt and I ended up adding 1.5 cups of marinara sauce and a little extra greek yogurt and a TON of parmesan.. and it was AMAZING! Although probably not exactly as healthy as your version. Still lower cal and yummier than a restaurant though for sure! Next time I think I'll half the recipe.. it made way more than I was expecting!
Found you via Pinterest and made this tonight. I believe this is going to go into regular rotation around here! I did make a few changes: I added a red onion (thinly sliced) and a yellow squash, in addition to the spinach and mushrooms. I also used a left over chicken breast instead of shrimp, as that is what I had. This is fantastic and I look forward to playing with the recipe a bit -- perhaps sausage as suggested by a previous commenter. Thank you!
Just put the dishes from this meal in the dishwasher! What a delicious recipe! The penne rosa is always what I order at Noodles. Thanks so much for sharing! And by the way--thanks for representing the Midwest in such a positive way!
I LOVE this recipe. Made it first with chicken for my boyfriend who is allergic to shellfish and overshot the red pepper flakes but it was still amazing with extra kick. I also made it for my brother, sister in law and myself with the shrimp and everyone loves it. Thanks for this recipe. It was the first thing I think I ever pinned on Pinterest and still my favorite.
Did I miss it, I know you discuss the 900 calorie portion at Noodle co and the smaller version at 400 calories leaving you hungry... how many servings is in this recipe?
I just made this for dinner tonigt and it was wonderfull! I am new to the cooking field and this was simple and easy to complete. My boyfriend who usually cooks every dinner loved this and was very surprised when there was a meal waiting for him when he go home from work. Thank you so much!
Thanks for the inspiration! This was absolutely delicious. It was the perfect meal to satisfy both mine and my husband's varying taste preferences.
Tried this tonight and loved it enough to blog about it. 🙂
http://tonightforsupper.blogspot.com/
Keep it up! 🙂
Tried this for dinner tonight for the family and it was a HIT! Delicious, loved the flavours and creaminess of it, even where there was no cream! Thanks for sharing, everyone loved it, even my Mum who is not a huge fan of pasta.
Quick query though - I noticed when I added the yogurt it split and gave the sauce a grainy appearance, and the sauce wasn't as thick as I'd liked. Should I reduce the amount of marinara sauce or maybe de-seed the tomatoes before adding it?
Still tasted amazing!
If the yogurt curdles like that, just wait a few minutes after removing the sauce from the heat. Once it cools just a bit, the yogurt should stay all thick an creamy. Glad you liked it!
Elle - I thought about your suggestion and went head and de-seeded my tomatoes - the consistency was just fine!
What a fantastic recipe! I love this entree from Noodles & Co. and my husband loves spicy stuff so it was the perfect combination! Thanks for posting!
Just made this dish tonight - easy to make, great flavor, and very robust! I can see how a dash of white wine in it would be good too. Or even putting in some bacon or sausage, depending on taste.
Alec, I think bacon or sausage would totally ruin the point of this healthy, low fat meal.
I'm making this for dinner right now!
Maybe thats the point of YOUR meal Jen C. Perhaps Alec is more interested in the flavor aspect of his meals.
I made this the other night following the recipe exactly but also adding 2 chicken sausage links and it was SO good. I love me some pasta so I like trying to find ways to make hearty healthy sauces that make you eat less pasta and more protein & veggies. Thanks for the great recipe!!
I am going to try it with chicken and whole wheat pasta. I think some fresh basil would be good, too!
This recipe looked amazing! Unfortunatley I am allergic to shrimp...but I did create my own similar version of this tonight and my family loved it! Thanks for the idea!
Helen
Blue Eyed Beauty Blog
I also am alergic to shrimp & meat; so, I used tofu & we it turned out great. Even my husband a true chicken eater loved it the tofu!! Thanks for this recipe!
The recipie turned out great. I like that we could season with salt to our own taste. Thank you so much for sharing.
This recipe looks awesome, but doesn't work in practice...at least didn't for me. The vegetables give off too much water, so the sauce ends up soggy. The yogurt curdles into clumps. Disappointing.
This was amazing!! Thanks for the post.
My husband farms shrimp so we tried this recipe last night and it was great! It tasted really good but wasn't too rich and heavy. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Yum! Just made this and I am currently eating it right now. Delicious! I love creamy red sauce, but was always weary of using greek yogurt...for some reason. It worked great!
This may sound silly...but should the shrimp be thawed out or can it be frozen before throwing it in the pan?
I am 9 months pregnant and can go at any time...I love how easy this sounds! Making it tonight!! I have been craving shrimp too!! 🙂
Thawed. 🙂 Frozen shrimp wont defrost/cook in that short amount of time.
I made this for dinner earlier this week and it is hands down one of the BEST pasta dishes I have ever had. It has great flavor and was so easy! Thanks so much for sharing!
This sounds amazing!! I am heading to the market to grab the ingredients right now! Can't wait! Thank you for sharing!
I made this for dinner tonight and loved it. I like saucy pasta, though, so only used 8 ounces of pasta and kept the other proportions the same. At first I still thought there wasn't quite enough sauce to go around, but it ended up being just right. Thanks!
Hi this sounds like a great recipe, I have one question can I use frozen spinach??
I don't see why not! Just defrost it, then wring it out using a kitchen towel. Then just add it in at the same time in the recipe you'd add the fresh. 🙂
Many thanks for posting this. Looks DELISH! Trying it tonight!