A bowl of Penne Rosa with shrimp and parmesan cheese.

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!

A pot full of Penne Rosa gets stirred with a wooden spoon.

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 sautรฉed shrimp or cooked chicken breast to help up the protein factor.

A bowl of pasta with parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.

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?

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  • 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.

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Penne Rosa

Penne Rosa

Yield: 6 servings
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes

This copycat recipe for Penne Rosa is a healthy, quick, and super tasty dinner to feed to your family. Add chicken or shrimp or keep it veggie!

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes
  • 8 ounces button mushrooms, sliced
  • 2 medium tomatoes (about 1/2 lb.) chopped
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 4 cups fresh spinach
  • 1/2 cup marinara sauce
  • 12 ounces whole wheat penne, cooked
  • 1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
  • 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Instructions

  1. 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.
  2. Add in mushrooms, tomatoes, salt and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes, or until mushrooms begin to release their water.
  3. Add in spinach and cover skillet. Let spinach wilt for 2 minutes. Remove lid, and stir in the pasta sauce. Remove the skillet from the heat, and let rest for 5 minutes.
  4. Stir in the Greek yogurt, and then add the 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 parmesan cheese.

Notes

Add cooked chicken or shrimp to the final dish for an added boost of protein!

You might be tempted to skip the resting step before adding the Greek yogurtโ€”don't! At high temperatures Greek yogurt breaks down and curdles. Give the dish a few minutes off the heat before stirring in the yogurt to avoid chunky sauce.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1 serving
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 159Total Fat: 5gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 5mgSodium: 244mgCarbohydrates: 23gFiber: 4gSugar: 3gProtein: 8g

At Wholefully, we believe that good nutrition is about much more than just the numbers on the nutrition facts panel. Please use the above information as only a small part of what helps you decide what foods are nourishing for you.

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166 Comments

  1. 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.

  2. 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!

  3. 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!

  4. 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!! ๐Ÿ™‚

  5. 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!

  6. This sounds amazing!! I am heading to the market to grab the ingredients right now! Can’t wait! Thank you for sharing!

  7. 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!

    1. 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. ๐Ÿ™‚