Tomato Basil and Spinach Penne – a healthier and delicious tomato basil and spinach penne with gluten free pasta. A simple and beautiful recipe to make.
Since I’m sticking to my healthy eating resolution, but still love my pasta, I made for you guys a healthy tomato basil and spinach penne with gluten free penne. And it was the BOMB!
I tried gluten free pasta for the first time just a few months ago and I honestly cannot tell the difference between gluten free pasta and regular pasta, so my take on it, is if you can afford it because it does cost a bit more money than just regular pasta, then by all means buy it, it’s better for you. The gluten free pasta here is rice pasta, also bought some brown rice pasta which I’ll try next time, but I am quite happy with this gluten free pasta thing. Who’d have thunk it?
I’m of the belief that eating healthy doesn’t have to mean hard recipes and slaving in your kitchen for hours. Heck, we’d never cook then. This is why I love recipes like this. This sauce is simple to make and it will take you under 30 minutes to make this entire dish.
Can you believe I managed to make this penne dish in my cast iron skillet, which I love love love so much. Except I didn’t cook the penne in it, but I made the sauce in it then tossed in the pasta. Win!
So let me show you how simple this dish is. You start out by heating the olive oil then adding the chopped onions and garlic and just cook them for a few minutes until onion is translucent and soft. I love cooking onions and garlic together, smells heavenly. I also like to season with salt and pepper as I go along.
Next we add in a can of diced tomatoes, with juice and all, then a whole lot of spinach. We need our greens, so add the spinach. I used baby spinach but I still roughly chopped a bit, very roughly. Cook this for a few minutes until spinach has wilted a bit.
So now here’s another first for me, cooking with almond milk. I added a little bit of unsweetened almond milk to this yummy sauce and also some Greek yogurt, sour cream would work as well. I just wanted to make it a little creamy. Then we add lots of fresh basil, because after all it is one of the main ingredients, and my fave ingredient Parmesan cheese. Stir it all together and cook for a bit longer and OMG, you’ve got yourself one healthy but so freaking delicious sauce. Oh, don’t forget to add more salt and pepper as needed.
Well if I had meals like this all the time, I sure could stick to my resolution forever. There is so much flavor in the sauce from the basil and tomatoes and Parmesan cheese, you’ll love this. Eat eat eat!
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Tomato Basil and Spinach Penne
Ingredients
- 1 lb penne I used rice pasta
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 19 oz diced tomatoes (1 can)
- 2 cups fresh spinach
- 1/4 cup Greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1 oz Parmesan cheese freshly grated
- 1/4 cup fresh basil chopped
- 1/4 tsp salt or to taste
- 1/4 tsp pepper or to taste
Instructions
- Cook the penne according to package instructions, but leave it a little bit al dente, as it will soak up some of the sauce.
- In a large skillet heat the olive oil. Add chopped onion and garlic to skillet and cook for about 2 minutes until onion is translucent and soft. Add the diced tomatoes, including the juice. Stir and cook for about 3 minutes. Add spinach and stir, let cook until spinach wilts. Add yogurt and almond milk and stir. Add Parmesan cheese and basil.
- Add the pasta to the skillet and toss well. Simmer in the sauce for 3-4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Garnish with fresh basil and parmesan cheese before serving.
Sadly, I don’t have access to unsweetened almond milk (overseas)– can I just use skim milk?
Yes, absolutely, that should be just fine.
I made this tonight. Followed the recipe to the letter. Tasted awesome. Definitely Will be cooking it again.
I made a simplified version of this from my very understocked kitchen that turned out amazing. I’ll definitely have to try out the proper recipe in the near future.
My kitchen is also pretty understocked, but I still want to try this recipe! Can I ask what you used/what you didn’t used that still made the recipe turn out good?
This looks so delectable. This is going on my “to make” list. Love that it’s healthy and meatless.
Thanks Teresa, I’m sure you’ll love it. 🙂