As I've mentioned before, my kids (and husband) do not eat a ton of vegetables. I'm always on the lookout for new ideas to hide (incorporate) different vegetables into our meals. Enter pasta...it's super easy to add all kinds of veggies and in this case, I incorporated them into the sauce, so no one ever knew they were there! Also, I LOVE pasta. It's probably one of my favorite foods. I always buy the Barilla plus pastas, they're made with whole grains and chic peas and taste great!
Where this recipe came from
When browsing through the meat department at Hannafrod's over the weekend, I came across a chicken sausage that I haven't yet tried...spinach and feta chicken sausage. I thought it would be a great addition to some pasta and give me a chance to incorporate the sausage flavors in the pasta.
This one was super easy! Boil the pasta, throw the sauce ingredients in the Cuisinart, mix in a bowl, pour in a baking dish, bake for 20 minutes...that's it! Also nice to have veggies, meat, grains and cheese all incorporated in one spot!!
The results
My kids ate it! Not a ton (and they usually devour pasta) but enough. I think the two helpings of peanuts pre-dinner didn't help. Brett and I both really liked it and would definitely make it again!
The recipe
1/2 box whole wheat penne
2 cups baby spinach
1 can diced tomatoes with basil and garlic
1 handful of fresh parsley
1 large clove of garlic
1 pkg (4 links) of chicken spinach spinach sausage (the pre-cooked kind. You could use any flavor you like to substitute)
1/4 cup feta cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 400. Cook penne according to package directions (I would undercook by a minute or two since you are going to bake it). Meanwhile put spinach, can of tomato (partially drained), parsley and garlic in the Cuisinart (food processor. You could probably use a blender here if you don't have a food processor). Blend until sauce-like (I need to learn some new terms), about a minute.
Mix sauce, cooked pasta, sausage cut into chunks (I quartered the links length-wise and then "chunked" them) and feta in a large bowl with the olive oil and salt and pepper.
Mix to coat. Pour in a square baking dish and top with mozzarella cheese.
Yeah pasta!!
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