Creamy Spinach and Mushroom Penne Pasta
"A lacto-vegetarian pasta dish using spinach, mushrooms, onions, garlic, and cream cheese to create a thick, delectable tomato sauce. The original recipe only called for cream cheese, canned pasta sauce, spinach, pasta, and parmesan cheese. I added the mushrooms to give the sauce more substance."
photo by HEATHER H.
- Ready In:
- 45mins
- Ingredients:
- 17
- Serves:
-
8
ingredients
- 1 lb penne pasta
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup red onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 8 ounces baby portabella mushrooms, sliced
- 1 1⁄2 cups frozen chopped spinach
- 15 ounces tomato sauce
- 1 (14 1/2 ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
- 1⁄4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon dried basil
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1⁄4 teaspoon spike seasoning
- 1⁄4 teaspoon fennel seed
- 1⁄4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 3 tablespoons parmesan cheese
- 3 tablespoons light cream cheese
directions
- Heat oil in skillet on medium heat and saute onions and garlic until tender.
- Add mushrooms and spinach and saute until heated through.
- Add herbs and spices. Mix well.
- Mix in tomato sauce, and diced tomatoes.
- Simmer, covered, for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, cook penne pasta according to package directions in a large pot.
- Drain pasta and return it to the large pot.
- Stir in in parmesan cheese and light cream cheese. Mix well.
- Add prepared sauce to pasta and mix until well combined.
- Serve topped with extra parmesan cheese, if desired.
- Note: Spike seasoning can be substituted with another all-purpose seasoning, if desired.
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Reviews
-
Oh, yum! I made this for dinner last night and we loved it. Changes I made were to use Spaghetti Rigate, 100g of baby spinach leaves which I added right before the tomato sauce, Masterfoods All Purpose Seasoning, extra parmesan, and not having any fennel seeds I had to leave them out. Thank you for a great recipe I will surely make again. -
Really great, easy, cheap vegetarian recipe! DH liked a lot, 2 y/o DD loved, I enjoyed very much :) Omitted the onions because of DH, sauteed the mushrooms until fully cooked before adding garlic and spinach and added an extra clove or garlic. I used bottled pasta sauce (Classico Spinach and Cheese) for speed and ease. Next time I will probably try adding a little sherry to the mushrooms when they're sauteeing. Made homeade garlic bread (hamburger buns toasted with butter, garlic and parm) and salads. An A meal :) Thanks, for the love of veggies! -
For a quick, simple, relatively-easy recipe, this really delivers the goods! -
I made this tonight and it was very good, but missing something. Maybe more salt... not sure. I added a little extra tomato sauce and diced tomatoes (an extra ounce or two of each) and added 1 more tablespoon of cream cheese. I also omitted the fennel seeds and spike seasoning. I don't think those are the two things that made it taste "off," although maybe the salt in the Spike would have made a difference. I'll definitely be making this again and will buy some Spike (and update my review when I do). I also used fresh spinach instead of frozen, white onion instead of red, and white mushrooms instead of portabella. One tip: add the garlic during the last minute of the onion cooking or it will burn. Overall, I liked it and will add it to my cookbook for a future dinner. Thanks for sharing! -
This was very good, even though I tried my hardest to goof it up :)! I halved the recipe but forgot to halve the cream cheese, parmesan, and spices. Duh! BUT it tasted great nonetheless, and I can't wait to make it again. Made for PAC Spring 2008.
see 2 more reviews
Tweaks
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I made this tonight and it was very good, but missing something. Maybe more salt... not sure. I added a little extra tomato sauce and diced tomatoes (an extra ounce or two of each) and added 1 more tablespoon of cream cheese. I also omitted the fennel seeds and spike seasoning. I don't think those are the two things that made it taste "off," although maybe the salt in the Spike would have made a difference. I'll definitely be making this again and will buy some Spike (and update my review when I do). I also used fresh spinach instead of frozen, white onion instead of red, and white mushrooms instead of portabella. One tip: add the garlic during the last minute of the onion cooking or it will burn. Overall, I liked it and will add it to my cookbook for a future dinner. Thanks for sharing!
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
I'm a 33-year-old writer, mother, and wife. My family includes my motorcyle-obsessed husband, Myron, my 3-year-old firecracker daughter Melody Bee, a noisy and loveable Mini-Schnauzer named Max, a fiery and protective Scottish Terrier named Sammy, and a yellow, fiesty budgie (parakeet) named Lemonhead. We're expecting a baby boy, due August 4, 2008.
I work full time in the Quality/Safety department at a hospital. When I'm not working or taking care of my family, I enjoy reading and writing fiction, yoga, gardening taking pictures, and (of course) cooking!
Most of the meals that I cook are vegetarian. I stopped eating beef, pork, and chicken at the beginning of 2007, but I sometimes cook up some meaty dishes for my husband. I don't really call myself vegetarian because I do eat dairy, fish, and eggs, yet I daily incorporate lots of vegetarian and vegan foods in my diet (and that of my family's) because most of the dishes are so healthy.
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Recipe Ratings:
Most of the time, I can tell when a recipe will turn out well just by the blend of ingredients and the way it is prepared. But occassionally, there's a recipe that sounds great that turns out awful for me. At all times, I will give a complete review of what I changed or what I think the problem was if the recipe didn't turn out "perfect." Here's how I've been rating recipes.
***** FIVE Stars: I made the recipe without any major changes to ingredients or preparation, and it turned out perfect. If I made any changes, it was due to what I had on hand, not because the recipe was bad as is. I'd make this recipe again without a doubt. And I'd be proud to serve it to my family and friends.
**** FOUR Stars: The recipe is very good, but I needed to tweak it just ever so slightly to my liking. (This does not include recipes I change because of the ingredients I have on hand. Instead, a four-star recipe was just a little "off," but easily fixed with minor changes.) I'd probably make this again, and I'd recommend this recipe to others.
*** THREE Stars: The recipe is good, but needed many modifications to bring it to my liking. I either had to omit, substitute, or increase ingredients or something was just not right with the texture or taste.
** TWO Stars: This recipe was a real bummer both in taste and preparation. I was disappointed in the outcome and couldn't even modify the recipe enough without it becoming a whole different recipe. I wouldn't make this again, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
* ONE Star: I'd be embarrassed to serve this recipe to my worst enemy. Fortunately, I haven't come across many of these recipes on this site. Chances are, there had to be something wrong with the cooking instructions for this to turn out so bad!
NO Stars: The recipe was a catastrophe. It was completely inedible and had to be thrown away before it even reached a serving plate. My dogs begged to be let outside for fresh air while this dish was cooking.
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