I’m in the mood for pasta tonight, how does that sound?! You can do literally anything with it and pair it with endless flavor combinations. Is that as exciting to you as it is to me?!
My kids like the usual pasta dishes like spaghetti, ravioli and fettuccine alfredo. They’re are all delicious of course, but can also feel boring. Thankfully, we adults are more adventurous, so I can add a lot of heat or change up the vegetables and sauces I try 🙂 What’s your favorite way to eat pasta?
I’ve been a little obsessed with sun-dried tomatoes lately, so I wanted to find a way to integrate that into my pasta tonight. YUM! I’ve also got some fresh spinach, so I’m thinking tonight’s dinner is going to be fast and delicious!
Let’s get started by getting some water in a pot so we can boil the pasta. It shouldn’t take longer to get the ingredients ready than it will to boil the water!
While the water boils…
Add the sun-dried tomatoes, red pepper flakes and olive oil to a food processor and pulse until it’s a paste and set aside.
Finely chop two cloves of garlic.
Your water should be boiling now…add your pasta and *salt the water*! I promise, it’s important and makes a difference. Give it a toss and let it do it’s thing in a warm bath for about 12 minutes (package directions for my rigatoni).
When your pasta has 1-2 minutes left, heat a large skillet to medium. Add one tablespoon of olive oil, and then the chopped garlic.
Stir the garlic around so it cooks but doesn’t burn, until the pasta timer goes off. Drain.
Now, add the drained pasta to the skillet with the garlic and give it a toss.
Add the sun-dried tomato mixture to the pasta and stir gently to coat for a minute or two.
I can’t handle it…this is gonna be so good!
Now add the spinach to the pan and gently toss as the sun-dried tomatoes warms through the pasta and the spinach starts to wilt.
Add freshly grated parmesan cheese and give it a quick stir.
Serve with more fresh parmesan cheese, obviously.
I think the pictures speak for themselves. You must try this soon! It’s bright and fresh and has a nice kick from the red pepper flakes!
Since I’m on a sun-dried tomato kick, I’m making sandwiches and flatbreads too. You can use your leftovers (I only used 1/2 a jar of sun-dried tomatoes for this recipe!) to try one of my other recipes!
Click here for my DELICIOUS Sun-Dried Tomato Spinach Roasted Potatoes!
- 1/2 lb rigatoni (or your favorite pasta)
- 4 oz sun-dried tomatoes, drained
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup fresh spinach
- 1/4 cup fresh basil
- 1/4-1 tsp red pepper flakes (to taste - we like it hot so I used 1 tsp)
- 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese (more to top when serving)
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Boil a pot of water and prepare pasta to package directions.
My rigatoni took 12 minutes to al dente.
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Puree the sun-dried tomatoes, red pepper flakes, olive oil and basil together in a food processor until it's a paste consistency.
You can chop the tomatoes up finely and combine the ingredients together in a bowl if you don't have a food processor.
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Heat a large skillet to medium and add chopped garlic. Cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring around so it doesn't burn.
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Add the cooked pasta to the skillet with the garlic and toss.
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Add the sun dried tomatoes and combine well.
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Add the spinach and toss gently to combine.
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Let all ingredients warm up together and the spinach wilt a bit while you gently stir for 1-2 minutes.
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Plate your pasta and grate a little fresh parmesan over the top.
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Serve immediately!
Serving suggestions: side salad and/or garlic bread 🙂
Did you try this pasta recipe? SHOW ME! Tag #mybusykitchen and I’ll share your pics and comments!
Thank you for stopping by My Busy Kitchen! I hope you’ll stop by again soon 🙂 Tiffany