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!
Want to save this recipe?
I'll email this recipe to you, so you can come back to it later!
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.
Want more recipes like this one?
- Canned Diced Tomatoes. Learning how to can tomatoes means that you can put up so many staple ingredients for winter, including the diced tomatoes you need for this pasta dish.
- Pumpkin Pasta. Want to try your hand at making your own noodles? This pumpkin pasta recipe only calls for two ingredients.
- Garden Tomato Soup. This fresh tomato soup is always a winner when you are looking for some comfort food.
- Homemade Spaghetti Sauce. The only dinner simpler than this penne rosa? Popping open a jar of canned spaghetti sauce you made in the summer and pouring it over some noodles.
- Spaghetti with Canned Clams. Clam pasta is a great weeknight meal that you can make almost entirely from pantry staples, as long as you have canned clams.
- Split Pea and Ham Soup. If gloomy weather has got you down, try this warming, hearty split pea soup with ham.
And check out these reader favorites!
- Healthy Overnight Oats. Overnight oats are our meal prep go-to because they are so simple to make, and they are endlessly customizable-we have 15 recipe to get you started!
- Homemade Limoncello. Our homemade limoncello recipe is the best place to start with making your own liqueurs because it is so dang easy. Drink it yourself, or give bottles as gifts.
- Lofthouse Cookies. Make the bakery classic puffy sugar cookies right at home!
- 109+ Meal Prep Recipes. If you need even more kitchen time savers, check out all of our meal prep recipes in one place.
📖 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 recipe didn't work for us. It was bland and the sauce was pale and watery. The heat needs to be turned up when the mushrooms go in, long before the shrimp is added to allow some of the moisture to cook out.
This recipe is amazing! I even left out the shrimp and parmesan, simply because I didn't feel like running to the store. If it's this good without them, I can only imagine how much better it'll be when I do add them. Personally, the only thing I would do differently would be to add more mushrooms and tomatoes. I do love my veggies...
My boyfriend is a fantastic chef, plus he's Italian, so I was thrilled when he said he loved this tonight. The only change I made was chicken sausage in lieu of shimp. Thanks for an easy, healthy, hearty, delicious meal idea. I'll be making this again.
Thanks so much for this recipe! The flavor is amazing and I love that it is a healthy alternative to creamy pasta sauces. I just used the sauce recipe as a base without the shrimp since we didn't have any and without the mushrooms and spinach because my husband doesn't like them. We ended up eating all of the sauce (enough for 6) just with the two of us!
Is there anything else I can substitute the greek yogurt with? Normal yogurt? As greek yogurt isn't available where I am at the moment. Let me know thanks! Want to make this tonight!
Normal plain yogurt should work. It just won't be quite as creamy. 🙂
You might be able to find 'labneh' it's the same thing. I live in West Africa and there are a lot Lebanese here and they eat labneh/Greek yogurt for breakfast (with olive oil and pita/Lebanese bread). If you have any middle eastern store or market you'll find it. I suggest trying zaatar spice if you want to try the Lebanese breakfast!
Geek yogurt is just strained regular yogurt, so if you reeeallly wanted to you could just strain plain yogurt yourself. You can do it with a cheesecloth, coffee filter, or a very fine mesh strainer over a bowl or jar to catch the whey. Just search online for a how-to. I don't know if it's worth the hassle to you, but it's pretty simple.
This turned out great! I made a half portion since I'm a college student that lives alone. Plenty of leftovers 🙂 Used broccoli instead of mushrooms!
Thanks for the quick, healthy and easy recipe
This was quick & easy to make. Thanks for the delicious & healthy recipe.
YUMM! Just made this for dinner today, replaced the shrimp with chicken, and used spinach instead of mushrooms,super easy and even smelled delicious as I made it. WIl be making this again later this week.
Thanks for making a recipe that prints easily and nicely on one page! I know it's a silly little thing, but it really matters to me. I look forward to trying this out.
This was great! I made this with Aleppo pepper instead of red pepper flakes, broccoli instead of mushrooms and some left over chicken instead of the shrimp. It's a great base sauce that could be easily be adapted to include whatever veg, spice or meat you've got in the pantry/fridge, which makes it a perfect recipe in my eyes.
The sauce was super creamy! The Greek yogurt is a great sub for heavy cream; this def doesn't taste like a pasta dish made healthy.
Thanks!! 🙂
lol, lol, you will never believe this. On my shopping trip I bought amongst other items all the main items needed in the above deliciously sinful pasta dish. I honestly do not know what made me, since half of them were NOT on my shoppinglist. And now, just before dinner time, I only saw your recipe. So, tomorrow.........Thanks.Ciao Carina
So easy a college kid can fix it! I absolutely loved this recipe! Thank you!
This is so yummy!! I added a pound of Italian sausage to this (so I added some more marinara and yogurt), and it was super tasty! I highly recommend this one!
I found this on Pinterest, thanks for sharing! Very filling and lots of flavor. Added a few more pinches of red pepper flakes for spice. Easy & quick to make...will make again!
I used to work for Noodles, and they switched to half and half years ago to save on costs (of course, this was never passed on to the customer...). Also, broccoli is a good substitute if you're not a mushroom fan. If you're looking for the true flavor, add in cooking wine as well. If anyone else really likes the pesto cavatappi, simply substitute pesto for marinara and omit the crushed red pepper. Same deal.
Do you know what kind of marinara Noodles uses? I have been trying to duplicate the Rosa sauce for a while now, but something is off.
I just made this for the first time tonight, and it's so delicious! Definitely putting it into our regular rotation! 😉 My super picky 3 year old finished his before I even sat down!
I was wondering approximately what the serving size is? About a cup is what I would guess.
I actually don't know Elya. Next time I make it (which is all the time), I'll measure it out and get back to you.
I made this last night....I was so delicious and everyone in my family loves it. Thank you do much for sharing the amazing recipe. Definitely will make it again soon...Yummm:)
This looks amazing! I'm not a shrimp fan, ate far too much of it as a kid, so i'm going to try it with chicken or fish. I'm really excited to try it. It's nice to find healthy recipes that are filling.
Do you have to put in the spinach and mushrooms? I'm not a fan of either but if leaving them out takes away from the overall taste I will put them in 🙂
It'll definitely take out some of the flavor, but it's worth a shot!