Spinach and Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta

Lacking depth as is. If you want to make this dish taste like fine restaurant quality, do not reconstitute the sd tomatoes. Eliminate the broth altogether. Boil your penne to al dente. Then saute your garlic, onion, & red pepper flakes. After that, toss ALL ingredients together (do NOT pre-wilt the baby spinach, add it raw), and add in FRESH LEMON JUICE ("that extra something") and enough olive oil to very lightly coat, and maybe some cooked shrimp for a main course. It is also good with toasted walnuts if you don't want to spring on pine nuts. Sprinkle with FRESH shredded, not grated, parm or none at all. It will make the flavors pop instead of melting in or tasting powdery. This is how I made it for a dinner special as a restaurant cook and it was my most requested dish.

Really easy and very tasty! Few changes: used chicken broth, oil packed tomatoes, doubled the garlic and pepper flakes, and added about a tbsp of fresh basil. Will make again.

One of my favorites ... very simple to prepare and tasty! I omit the pine nuts as a personal preference, substitute dehydrated tomatoes with julienne cut sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, no need to presoak them and adds great texture and flavor, and drizzle additional olive oil as the final step to moisten the pasta a bit. Serve with garlic bread and a glass of wine ... sophisticated simplicity. Prepare to impress! Photo available on my profile page.

Very good, very simple. I added some artichoke hearts and a little salt to taste. Toast the pine nuts and use 1 Tbsp per serving. As others have said, I would add a lot more spinach. Thanks, one of the quickies for my recipe box. I may add some chicken next time.

This recipe is great as written but if you have a little extra time I'd reccommend soaking the sun dried toms. in redwine and chicken broth and throw in roasted minced garlic to the broth & wine- very aromatic!Leave them in about 1 hour. Also this recipe converts nicely in to a great dolled up version of Meditarrean Cous Cous dish. Just sub-in Cous Cous in place of the Penne.

This was really really good. I didnt have penne so i used angel hair, and i also used the sundried tomatoes in oil. I sauted 4 cloves of garlic in a little oil, added spinach and tomatoes, and about 1 1/2 cups of the starch water from the pasta and 1/2 tsp of chicken broth seasoning. It was GOOOOOD! i personally used a little more sundried tomatoes because i love them, i couldnt stop munchin on this after dinner it was soo good topped with an italian cheese blend! thank you~

Ok...this was just plain AWESOME!!!! I made one addition...MUSHROOMS!!!!!!!!!!!! This dish was just screaming for them! Otherwise, did not alter anything...yum...yum..yum...YUM!!!!!! Kudos to Madball! Thanks!

I can't wait to make this again with penne. I used ditalini b/c I had it on hand. Also I used chicken broth (well actually bouillon mixed with water b/c that's all I had…shhh) - just popped it in the microwave for 2 minutes then let sit w/tomatoes for 15. I added an extra clove of garlic, but next time I won't and only had 1/2 a bag of baby spinach, but could have used a whole bag. Didn't have pine nuts but I’m sure it would be perfect with them. Topped with gruyere and parmesan - DELICIOUS!!!

This pasta recipe is PERFECT! It was easily adaptable, simple to prepare and looked beautiful in the serving bowl! Here were my substitutions: I had no broth so I used water. I used sun dried tomato spread instead of chopping tomatoes~ made a nice sauce! Also, I had no pine nuts so I substituted slivered almonds. I will definitely make it again and throw in some chicken next time. Thanks for a great, healthy, family friendly recipe! Whip up a batch with a crusty loaf of bread and a nice salad and people will think you put much more effort into it than you really did!

I loved this dish. I did substitute white wine for the vegetable broth. Even the leftovers were yummy. I think I might add some fresh mushrooms next time.

This is good! I really did not measure anything...just threw it all together. I added grilled chicken breasts which really made it into a meal. Yum!

This was pretty good but I was expecting it to be much better based on the ingredients and the reviews. It needs more of a "sauce"--maybe some tomato sauce or half-and-half? Probably won't make again.

Quick & Easy!

I know, I know, we all hate it when we change the recipe & then rate it high... We LOVED it and I changed it by: using bow tie pasta, Sun Dried Toms (from Costoc) in OIL - lots of them!, rotisserie chicken, lots of red pepper flakes (cooked with garlic and sun dried toms in lots of olive oil). After the pasta COOLED, I added small diced Monterey Jack cheese cubes and lots of OLIVES and a little more olive oil to make a light sauce. We loved it... husband took it to work (fire station) and they loved it there too!

If you like creamy pasta, you can tweak this by adding 3 oz. of cream cheese - so good! For diabetics, try Dreamfield's pasta - it's my daughter's fav dish.

Really tasty dish, but at the end I would add cooked pasta to pan with spinach mixture and continue heating through. Otherwise, the dish isn't really hot, just lukewarm when serving.

This is just like a dish @ Bravo which is my favorite. Add feta...that makes it. P.S. Make this cold and it is great pasta salad.

This sounds very similar to my favorite dish at a local restaurant - they include black kalamato olives, goat cheese and mushrooms - it is delicious!

Excellent! I didn't have any pine nuts so I omitted them. I too added some green olives and capers to this restaurant quality pasta! A keeper!

The rustic feel of this dish makes it very easy to modify. In the past I have added asparagus, zucchini, meat and broccoli (but not all at once) because I have needed to use them up before they went bad. I always add a can of chopped tomatoes and substitute some of the broth for white wine -- it makes the pasta seem a little less naked when its done... however the added liquid does increase the amount of time you need to allow the sauce to cook.

This is one of the reasons I love this site, it's for recipes like this! I made this for a dinner party, and it was a HUGE hit! I added chicken and artichokes like many others and the leftovers were delicious. As for the cheese, I had the feta and parmesean on the side and let them choose. Thank you for such a great and versitile recipe for my collection!

I too used oil packed sun dried tomatoes. I rinsed them to make them less oily. This was a delicious, light pasta that comes together very quickly.

Fantastic and simple recipe. The best kind. I added asparagus and chicken to my version and they were great additions. Cook the chicken in a skillet with cooking spray and an additional clove of garlic (I'm Italian, garlic is life blood). Just cook the asparagus after you saute the garlic. After the asparagus is cooked but still crunchy add in the spinach and follow the original recipe.

This recipe is absolutely delicious!! The whole family loved the freshness and flavor. I did add some finely chopped celery, onions and Italian seasoning to the garlic saute. Next time around I may add some roasted red peppers. Definitely a keeper and will be added to my favorites.

This was pretty good, I think I'll add feta cheese next time and add less broth :)

Excellent recipe! I felt like my husband and I were on a date at a nice Italian restaurant. A couple changes that I did end up makings: chicken broth instead of vegetable broth, sun dried tomatoes that come pre-soaked in a jar of oil, sauteed a couple shallots and 3 cloves of garlic, added a cup of fresh sliced mushrooms, added a can of drained quartered artichokes and used 4x the amount of red pepper flakes. Salt and pepper to taste. I served this next to a bunch of sauteed shrimp seasoned with some garlic salt and cayenne pepper. I will definitely make this again. I bet it would be great with some grilled chicken strips too.

Very tasty recipe. We added sliced sweet italian sausage and it was wonderful. Would be very good with no meat too though. I will try it will some additional garlic and chicken next time I make it.

I'm still mostly a beginner but wanted to make this. I don't know how much a "bunch" of spinach is and I also could not find individual sun-dried tomatoes so used (2) 7 oz. from packets (too much). I've never heard of vegetable broth. After a lot of work and using every pot, pan and strainer to make this I ended up in a bad mood.

This was DELISH! I just finished dinner and both my boyfriend and I ate the whole dish. I followed the recipe exactly except used chicken stock in place of vegetable. It was VERY flavorful. I had read previous reviews saying that the dish was bland and needed salt and pepper, so I added some salt. Next time I will NOT add salt because it would have been perfect without it, it was a little too salty with the extra. Thanks for such a wonderful recipe!

Bleh. Maybe it's just because I don't LOVE sundried tomatoes (I like them ok) but I did not like this recipe. It needed more of a sauce or more seasoning or something. My husband didn't like it either and he likes tomatoes more than I do.

Very good. Added some grilled chicken to make a complete meal. Tasted very fresh, not heavy. My husband loved it and asked for it to be made again.

Hit a HOME RUN with this recipe. Added a half cup of diced red, yellow, orange pepper for another layer of freshness, and added mushrooms because I love them... Added Lime Juice and a shake of Tabasco. My grown kids wiped out the pan...

I love this recipe! All of the flavors blend so well together. The only changes I made were using sundried tomatoes packed in oil and I used chicken stock instead of vegetable.

Will definitely make again! Served as a side dish at a dinner party and it got rave reviews! I didn't have pine nuts but it was fantastic without them. I also didn't use dehydrated sun dried tomato but instead used a jar packed in oil and used some of the oil from the jar for extra flavor instead of the olive oil called for. I still added in the veggie broth. Served it with freshly shredded parmesan.

As I was preparing this I thought there was no way it would be interesting or flavorful but it turns out to be both! My 3 year old son LOVED it so it's definitely on the family dinner rotation now. I didn't have pine nuts and chose not to buy them at $5.99 for a little jar but otherwise I followed the recipe as written and will again next time.

Even my meat-loving husband totally ate this! I omitted pine nuts and used fresh spinach out of personal preference.

needs either less pasta or more spinach, tomatoes and cheese. Then it's excellent!

this stuff is sooo good! I had really low expectations for this dish - I thought it just sounded too simple, but the flavor combination is really great. I ate it last week and am craving it still.

Great tasting. Added some basil, cubed chicken, additional red pepper flakes & vegetable broth. Will make again.

I definitely added mushrooms but I didn't end up using any chicken broth. I basically sauteed the veggies, spices, and garlic in the olive oil and then mixed in the cooked pasta and added lots of parmesan. It looks beautiful with all the colors and it tastes wonderful!

I've been making this for months and I've told all my friends about it. It's my favorite recipe and great how it is, but I use dried habanero pepper flakes to make it hotter, and I love adding salmon for more protein. This is an all around good meal.

My son looked at the stove and said "Can I have something else?"-then proceeded to eat two platesful. Will repeat this one.

This was very tasty and easy to make. I substituted the Veg. stock with chicken stock because that is what I had on hand and it turned out delicious. If my kids weren't eating it, I would have added just a bit more of the crushed pepper. I recommend this for a nutricious weeknight meal!

Delicious and super easy! I make this all the time and it always turns out great. The only change I make is omitting the vegetable broth. It's too salty and the recipe does not need it. If you get oil packed sun dried tomatoes they are already soft enough to chew and don't need to be soaked. I also use extra Parmesan cheese and extra pinenuts. Great heated up the next day too.

YUMMY! We added chicken but everything else was the same! This will be a staple around here!

Absolutely delicious. I didn't have pine nuts so I used walnuts and I added chicken and chicken broth instead of vegetable broth. I also used Feta cheese instead of Parmesan. The flavor was fabulous.

This was simple and very good. I love things that are easy to make. The only I changed was adding more garlic because I love it. Someone suggested adding artichoke hearts or mushrooms, and using some wine. I will try those ideas next time to step it up for company. Thanks for the recipe!

Made this dish the other night and it was very good -- Used the sundried tomatoes in oil instead of reconstituting the dried ones. A shake of hot sauce made it even better -- nice dish.

This recipe is fantastic! I added both shrimp and chicken just because we like to have meat with dinner. It would be fabulous without those two additions though too.

What a beautiful dish. Thank you.

Delicious. Next time I will omit the pine nuts...personally don't like how they taste with the pasta. Otherwise I wouldn't change a thing. Very good and east to make!

This is good as a side dish (or add some meat to the pasta to make it a main course). I used bowtie pasta instead of penne, and only 3/4 cup of broth (because of other reviews). Everything else was done as directed per the recipe. Because there is no meat in this dish, my husband heated up some leftover chicken to eat with his pasta.

Excellent. Easy. Entertainment-worthy. I used cheese tortellini instead and added some fresh diced tomatoes and a little crumbled feta cheese on top. Plus I used extra sun dried tomatoes, 5 cloves of minced garlic and extra spinach, but omitted the pine nuts (didn't have any). I was worried the red pepper flakes would be too hot for my little ones, but it wasn't. It held just the right flavor. I will make again! Thanks for sharing.

Quick meal for a weeknight. I used cayenne pepper because I was out of red pepper flakes. It seemed to add an extra kick.

Very tasty and easy to make. I used chicken instead of vegetable broth and cooked the pasta with chicken breast for a complete meal.

Had with spaghetti and it was great! Used water instead of veg broth and was fine. A very nice light change from thick sauces. Thanks!! Double the red pepper to make it a very spicy dish!

Really good. Made a nice, light, summertime dinner. I made exactly as per the recipe and wouldn't change a thing.

Really good pasta- I did like others suggested and added feta, which I liked because it cut down on the spice of the cracked red pepper. Next time I might add chicken to add a little more to it. Great base for a recipe.

Loved it! Having said that, I made a couple of changes. For one thing I marinated chicken breast in It. dressing for a couple of hours. Fried the chicken in olive oil and cut it into cubes. Added that to the pasta. I didn't have "de-hydrated" sun dried tomatoes, so I used the ones in the jar. I also doubled the Garlic and the red pepper

Very nice pasta dish. I added 2 chicken breasts, which I cooked by themselves and then added the pine nuts with only 2 tsp. of olive oil and 2 minced garlic cloves. I tossed this with 8 ounces of whole wheat spaghetti and then garnished with dried parsley and grated Parmesan.

I was really disappointed in this one... very little flavor. I'll have to re-write the recipe for our liking.

I also doubled the garlic and sauteed some shrimp in butter and garlic on the side for use meat eaters in the family. Delicious, quick and easy!

I made this for a family party and it was a new favorite! Everyone raved about it, including my father-in-law who is a tough critic -- he worked in an Italian restaurant in NY when he was at school!

Pretty good, although I used sun dried tomatoes in oil, skipped all the broth, and put some crumbled bacon in.

This is good! It's easy & quick too :) I used oil packed toms & just sorta drained them on some paper towel. I used baby spinach & next time I think I will use more! I had the intention to add the pine nuts but then stumbled across some information about people having bad reactions to them!? It made me scared so I threw away my $6 bad of TJ's pine nuts :( Still tasted great & I will make this again. Used wholewheat pasta too.

I had about 3/4 of an 8 oz. jar of oil packed julienne sun dried tomatoes, so I used that. I poured some of the oil along with a bit of olive oil into a large frying pan, and sauteed two sliced chicken breasts. Pushed them to the side and cooked 3 cloves of minced garlic, the peppers and about 1/2 tsp of basil. Added the tomatoes and a can of drained chopped artichoke hearts. Sprinked with Wondra, added a 14 oz. can of chicken broth and a splash of Marsala. Simmered this for a few minutes then added the spinach. At the end, added some crumbled crisp bacon and Parmesan. My husband said "This is heaven" and "You hit a home run with this one." It was good!

Used broccoli instead of spinach bc I have a very picky eater in my house, but this was excellent. Will make it again!

My husband & I couldn't finish this. I think it was the vegetable broth that really ruined it for me. It gave such a strong flavor and one that didn't match the rest of the ingredients. And it gave the tomatoes a really strong, odd flavor. Maybe if I would have eliminated that, it would have been edible, but I probably won't be trying for a next time.

Outstanding recipe! I used oil packed sun-dried tomatoes and chicken broth, but did not soak the tomatoes since they were already moist. I used a little more crushed red pepper than 1/4 t. and loved the extra heat! My husband who isn't much of a sun-dried tomato fan had to force himself to stick with 2 helpings! He really enjoyed the dinner and raved throughout the meal. I plan to make this one often!

Great weeknight meal. Fast, easy and good. I used chicken broth and omitted the pine nuts

This recipie was good, but I took it further. Instead of pine nuts, add a small jar of basil pesto. Added 1 cup diced onions and half pound of proscoutto (sp?). Cut back to 1/2 cup of sun-dried tomatoes, and use about 12 diced roma tomatoes. Also added 1 tspn fresh minced garlic and added enough chicken broth to keep it a little moist while it simmered to develop flavors. All this makes this a little more savory.

What a great recipe. Easy, fast, with ingredients I always have at hand. The only ingredient I didn't have were the pine nuts and I don't think I will use them in the future. I didn't think the dish was missing anything without them. I served the pasta with the parmesan-crusted tilapia from this site and my husband gave it a "fantastic" (his highest rating).

I was looking for a recipe for an item recently removed from the menu of a local restaurant: this is very similar. I sautéed some sliced chicken breast with the garlic; otherwise I made it as written. We enjoyed it & will make it again.***The second time I made this, I used a tomato & basil flavoured pasta. It was a perfect compliment to this recipe.

I liked this, but I think I would reduce the amount of broth. Also, the whole family said there was 'something missing'. Not sure what the something is, but will try the dish cold today and see what it's like as a pasta salad. Not sure I would make it again.

It was very good and husband loved it. I give it a 4 because I treaked it -I added a saute cut up chicken breast,basil, 2 more garlic cloves & more red pepper. I think I could of added more -we like it hot other wise its a great recipe. I had some dried cherry tomatoes that I had dried last fall in my freezer-I now i know what to do with all those dried tomatoes. I will make this recipe again & thanks for sharing your recipe!

I added 3 slices of turkey bacon, 3 pc of diced chicken tender, sliced mushrooms, and celery. I just want to use those ingredients up. Very quick to make and yummy!

Not a bad dish, I think the success of this dish depends on what sort of vege broth your putting into it, even still I think broth is a bit too strong - maybe boiling the pasta in it would've been a better option. Unfortunately I didn't have any vege broth, so reverted to Chicken broth which was a tad overpowering.....i'm rating it 4 instead of 3 because I had to change a few things. I didn't have pine nuts, which wouldn't have made a huge difference. I also didn't have fresh parmesan - which I think would've helped bring this dish together. I put a bit of feta in the mixture which spruced it up nicely! Thank you!

There is a lot of flavor packed into this simple dish. I added white beans for more interest and to make it a more complete meal, and substituted farfalle as the pasta base. Thanks for sharing a great recipe.

this is like soup! waaaay too much broth-1/4c is more than enough...unless you want soup...and it's bland. will not make again :(

I was looking for a recipe for an item recently removed from the menu of a local restaurant: this is very similar. I sautéed some sliced chicken breast with the garlic; otherwise I made it as written. We enjoyed it & will make it again.***The second time I made this, I used a tomato & basil flavoured pasta. It was a perfect compliment to this recipe.

This was really good and had a great italian flavor! When everyone came into the kitchen they said it smelled like a restaurant!

I liked this recipe. I did use prepackaged baby spinach and I used Bella Sun Luci Sun dried tomatoes in oil and herbs. I also added chopped grilled chicken. Very good recipe that I will make again.

This was very good. Like another reviewer, an wonderful change to the heavy tomato sauces. My printer wasn't working so I scooted between the kitchen and monitor. Tried to chopped the tomatoes before soaking, duh... The red pepper flakes were just right. I also had some mushrooms to use up and I threw in 2 large sliced french echallotes. Used baby spinach and really didn't have quite enough. Will make sure I have more on hand next time. On the side I served butterflied scampi done with garlic/butter and coated in breadcrumbs. Scrumptious. Thank you for your excellent combinations of sun-dried tomatoes and spinach.

I used oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes and chicken broth, which I let reduce down. This was a great way to get spinach onto the plate. The pine nuts were a great addition. Good standby recipe when marinara just won't do.

One of the easiest pasta dishes I've ever made. Tasted great!

This was a little bit bland, but just needed a dash of salt. I used Barilla Plus pasta and also added a little extra broth and tomatoes so the pasta wouldn't be so dry. Great recipe!

I made this recipe exactly as stated. It was a little bland to me, something was definitely missing. Most of the reviews seemed to have added several other ingredients and I can now see why. I won't make it again.

Great healthy pasta dish - added more spinach and did not have pine nuts, but it really didn't matter. I also cut back on pasta, but that is a matter of taste. Thanks for submitting.

OMG this was restaurant quality! Everyone raved...this is delicious!! Also easy to make: my sister, who doesn't cook, actually asked for the recipe, and made it soon after, also to rave reviews! My only stray from the recipe: I doubled the dish (wish I tripled it lol) but instead of adding a second cup of veggie broth i added a cup of water with some freshly ground pepper to keep the sodium low. Thanks for a keeper! =)

Very, very easy and simple recipe but tastes great! Quick to prepare and very pretty once cooked and plated. Hints: If you like spicy food, add more pepper flakes. Also, more spinach makes it a little more healthy but still does not overwhelm the recipe. I used extra firm tofu (cubed) instead of chicken or shrimp as a protien and it complemented well.

Fantastic I added greek olives and capers definitely restaurant quality!

I use spagetti noodles, leave out the pine nuts and add shrimp to this dish. Excellent!!!!!

I wouldn't write a review unless it was outstanding..trust me, this one IS! The broth really sets the flavors and the red pepper gives it a little kick that makes it just perfect. Seriously, I don't think I've had better pasta dishes in any Italian restaurant!

I made this recently when a vegetarian friend came over to dinner. It was a hot day, and so I was looking for a vegetarian pasta dish that wasn't overloaded with cheese and butter - this was exactly what I was looking for. I made it almost exactly as written, and it was wonderful: just the right amount of spice from the red pepper flakes, freshness from the spinach, richness from the sun-dried tomatoes, and cruch from the pine nuts. I used the tomatoes in oil, like many other reviewers, and it was delicious, but I think next time I might try using the dried, bulk tomatoes, since I think using the vegetable broth to rehydrate them might bring a really nice, complex flavor to the broth before it's used in the sauce. Excellent recipe!

just made this...t'was very good and oh so simple! I also added the artichoke hearts!!! yum!

My entire family of 5 loved this. I added chicken and garbanzo beans. Quick and easy to make.

I loved the way the ingredients made each bite different. I liked the tang of the sun dried tomatoes. However, I would have liked the pasta to be in a creamier sauce.

I changed this recipe quite a bit to suit our taste and to make a complete meal of it by adding chicken and the best part, all is done in one family style skillet except for cooking pasta separately like in original recipe. I used a 6 oz jar of julienne strip sun dried tomatoes in olive oil, one finely chopped whole peeled shallot and 3 cloves of garlic finely chopped. Saute the tomatoes , shallot and garlic along with red pepper flakes using the olive oil from the sundries tomato jar. If you want a little more oil add some regular olive oil. Add in a 3-4 oz can of sliced black olives and a 6 oz bag of baby spinach. Sauté until spinach almost wilted, add 1 ½,cups of chicken broth, heat it all through then mix in the cooked pasta and I added in two sliced or cubed already grilled boneless skinless chicken breast. Let it all heat through in the skillet. Serve with parmesan cheese on the side so everyone can put however much they want on top. Note: I did not bother with pine nuts but these can be added and mixed in also, toasted or not.

Very healthy and has a good flavor. I also added chicken to the garlic/red pepper flakes round, and may experiment with some fish next time.