Weeknight Penne with Spinach Sauce

Holy moly this was delicious!  Everyday I get a recipe sent to me via e-mail from the 'Food Network', 90% of the time I'll look at the headline but not click on the actual recipes - this recipe though was the exception!  It was easy (took me about 25 minutes start to finish), fresh and delicious and was sort of like making a pesto sauce except with spinach and goat cheese.  The recipe also made a TON of food, we definitely had leftovers for the next day.

I have a friend coming up from the city within the next couple of weeks and I will probably end up making this dish for her - it was THAT good!  If you love goat cheese (which I do) this is for you - it was also incredibly fresh (thanks to the spinach) and since it is a Giada De Laurentiis recipe I felt somewhat fancy while making it!

Weeknight Penne with Spinach Sauce

Ingredients

1 pound penne pasta (preferably whole wheat)

2 large or 3 smaller garlic gloves

3 oz goat cheese

1 - 1.5 oz light cream cheese

1/2 TSP salt

1/4 TSP ground black pepper

6 oz fresh spinach leaves

2 TBS fresh parmesan cheese (optional)

1 cup (reserved) pasta water

Directions

Cook the pasta until al dente ~ when finished, drain but reserve 1 cup of the pasta water ~ in a food processor process the garlic ~ add 4 oz of the fresh spinach, the goat and cream cheese, salt and pepper - process until smooth ~ chop the remaining spinach (about 2 oz) and place in the bottom of a large serving bowl ~ spoon the cooked (and hot) pasta on to the chopped pasta ~ using a spatula scoop the spinach/cheese sauce on to the pasta ~ mix, combining the hot pastas, chopped spinach and spinach/cheese sauce ~ depending on the thickness of sauce add as much reserved pasta water as needed.

 

Serve with whatever you like and enjoy!

Does this not look absolutely delicious!

Served with grilled chicken - awesome meal!