Pasta Fresca
1 pound penne pasta
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup mushrooms, chopped
1/2 cup tomatoes, cut to small chunks
1/2 cup red onion, sliced thinly
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/8 cup cooking white wine
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 cups spinach, packed
3/4 cup artichoke hearts, drained and rinsed
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1. Boil water in a large pot big enough to fit your whole pound of pasta. Once your water comes to a boil, add your pasta. When your pasta is about 10 minutes from being cooked, you can start on your veggies.
2. In a large sauce pan, add tablespoon of olive oil and mushrooms. Sauté for 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and sauté for 3-5 minutes more. Add onions and sauté for only about 3 minutes. You want your onions to still have crunch and color to them so do not over cook them.
3. Once pasta is done, drain the water, rinse your pasta in cool water and add noodles to your sauce pan with your vegetables. In a small bowl, mix together remaining olive oil, white wine and balsamic vinegar. Mix thoroughly.
4. Add vinegar mixture to mushroom sauce pan along with garlic and spinach. Add artichokes and salt, and sauté everything together until everything is thoroughly heated. Serve immediately.
Source of recipe: My version of Noodles and Co.'s pasta fresca dish.
SO HOW'D IT GO?
I make a very similar recipe to this, but I call it more of a pasta stir fry. I make it in a wok over very high heat and even stir fry the pasta for a while.
This sounds SOOO good!! I can't wait to try it!! Great recipe, thanks...