We took a chance in the Hughes house this week. When I was in the pasta aisle at Aldi I saw this big bag of spinach pasta. I was drawn to the pretty noodles. I suppose it probably helped that the picture on the package looked oddly similar to the recipe I was planning on making. My final verdict on the spinach noodles was this: The kids weren’t wild about the green color and I think it made them not want to try it, but my husband and I liked it just fine. It really didn’t taste that much different to me than whole wheat noodles.

The original recipe I got this idea from suggested that you use fresh basil. I bought the basil but by the time we got around to making this the basil was slimy and yucky so I ended up using Italian seasoning instead. While I would have preferred the fresh basil the Italian seasoning was okay too.

Make this one your own. Don’t have feta cheese? Use Parmesan. Don’t have chicken broth? Use 1/2 cup of the noodle water. Don’t like looking at green noodles? Use linguine. 🙂 Have fun with this one.

The original recipe this was inspired by was a recipe in a Fast & Healthy magazine I found in Barnes & Noble.

Here is what you will need:

8 oz. spinach noodles or linguine
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
1 1/2 Tbsp. Italian seasoning, or 3/4 c. fresh basil chopped
4 cloves garlic
1/2 c. fat-free chicken broth
1 tsp. sugar
salt
pepper
1/2 c. crumbled feta cheese or 1/4 c. Parmesan cheese

What you do:

In a large pot cook pasta according to the directions on the package.

Heat oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add tomatoes, Italian seasoning, and garlic; cook for 2 minutes.

Mix in the broth and sugar and cook for 4-5 minutes longer. Tomatoes should soften. Season with salt and pepper.

Mix pasta with the tomato sauce mixture. Top with feta cheese or Parmesan cheese.