Monday, March 31, 2008

Easy, Healthy, and Good

I'm back!  
Here's a winner I made recently.  It's so fast and easy, but best of all, my kids really liked it.  Don't be afraid to add the pine nuts - the kids really liked those!  I served this with some homemade bread, salad, and fresh strawberries.  Yum!

Penne with Ricotta and Pine Nuts
  • 1/3 cup pine nuts
  • 1 pound whole wheat penne pasta (health food store)
  • 1 1/2 pound baby spinach, washed
  • 2 Tb olive oil
  • Course salt and fresh ground pepper
  • 1 cup ricotta cheese
  • 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
  1. Preheat the oven to 350*.  Spread the pine nuts on a rimmed baking sheet; toast in the oven, tossing occasionally, until golden, 6 to 8 minutes; set aside.
  2. Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the spinach penne until al dente according to package directions, adding the fresh spinach during the last 2 minutes of cooking.  Drain; return the pasta and spinach to the pot.
  3. Add the olive oil; season generously with salt and pepper.  Toss well.
  4. Serve immediately, topped with the ricotta, pine nuts, and parmesan.  
Serves 6

I just stirred in the pine nuts and cheeses.  It didn't look as pretty, but I have found that it's better with the kids if you don't give them options.  You better try this.  It doesn't get any easier than that!

6 comments:

mother of seven said...

YUM I will definately try this....Oh and welcome back:)

Kyle said...

That looks so good...I will definetly try that! Yummy!

Cindy Thomas said...

Hey, we have whole wheat pasta at our Costco in Dallas... it may be at yours too. It comes in a 6-pak.

What exactly are pine nuts? I wonder if I can feed them to a child who is allergic to tree nuts and peanuts?

Laurel said...

Geez! I'm glad you're back! And YUM!

julie williams said...

I'm glad you're back...I missed you. Hope you had a great spring break and got a lot done while you were taking a break from blogging. Love ya

Heidi said...

I'm a blog lurker who has never commented but I have LOVED seeing your cookie and cake creations and missed seeing them! I hope you got lots done on your blogging hiatus.

I have an interesting question for you. I am an old school friend of your cousin (?) Liz Bryant and I am currently a student at BYU taking a lecture series on Home-Based Women Entrepreneurs. I need to interview a female entrepreneur for my final paper and I was wondering if I could interview you about your cookie business! Please email me at heidib{dot}butler{at}gmail{dot}com and let me know what you think. Thank you!

 
BLOG DESIGN BY DESIGNER BLOGS