I always follow the recipe EXACTLY the first time I make it if I am planning on doing a "review." Otherwise, how can you trust the "stars" if everyone is rating it based on changing the recipe? This was extremely yummy. Very flavorful. Easy to make. DELICIOUS! I found none of the problems that other reviewers did.
Ok-I change some of the recipes I use from this site-I usually hate it when people do it, but I can't help myself! I used a whole pound of bacon-sauteed that until crispy- drained off most of the grease (left about 2Tbsp.) sauteed a small onion with the garilc- added some dried basil and cayenne pepper- and added the tomatoes (I used tomatoes with green chiles) while I cooked the pasta. Once the pasta was almost done, I added the spinach to the tomato mixture and then drained the pasta and added it to the tomatoes. Once I brought it to the table, I served it with parmesan cheese. YUM-O!! My husband said 4. I said 5 because I think it's great. This would be good at room temp as a buffet dish, I think it'll be great as leftovers and would be awesome with some grilled chicken and mushrooms. Great recipe with lots of room to personalize! Thanks for an awesome start to a great meal! Served with garlic bread and a green salad.
VERY GOOD! Just a couple upgrades...I used a pound of bacon and almost 2 pounds of pasta. I put some spinach in the skillet and some in the pasta drainer to test both ways. It's good both ways. The strainer/colander spinach was just bland and wilted. The skillet spinach absorbed bacon flavor, so I recommend the skillet spinach version. (Already putting in a pound of bacon, we're not exactly watching our figure here.) I added onions and garlic to the cooked/drained bacon. And at the end I added some cream to the skillet before dumping it over the pasta. This was really good.
I made this a second time and made some changes to make it taste better. I removed my bacon and added fresh tomatoes to the 1 tbsp garlic. I boiled that down and then added a box of spinach. 2 minutes later I added the bacon back in. I turned off the heat and added 1 cup of parmesan cheese. Everyone ate it this time. This was my first review. "Tasted better the second day. Added parmesan to flavor it up."
This recipe turned out great with one fairly major change on my part. Mine is not a tomato-friendly household (neither of us can stand the things!) so I used a small jar of sliced roasted red peppers (drained) in place of the tomatoes. I sprinkled some crumbled Feta cheese over the top just before serving and it was a great light meal. I also used this basic idea for a pasta side dish except I used orzo in place of penne and I sliced the spinach chiffonnade-style to make the leaf size more suited to the pasta. Great versatile recipe!
I knew this recipe was a winner when my husband exclaimed, "Wow! This tastes like restaurant food!" It tastes very good the next day, stays moist and reheats well. Thanks for such a delicious and easy recipe that I'll be making over and over again.
Very good as is however in order to make it a less fattening replace chicken broth for olive oil and bacon drippings and substitute bottled real bacon peices (not imitation) for fried bacon. Must splurge and top with parmesean cheese.
I took the bacon out when it was done cooking and then added it back in at the end so it would stay crispy. Also I wilted the spinach into the sauce and served with a bit of feta cheese sprinkled over the top. Delicious!
Love it! We added fresh mushrooms and used whole wheat pasta. I don't usually eat cooked vegetables but the spinach and tomatoes were just right. Highly recommend.
first shot was ok but a little...lacking? second try i added one small onion one small green pepper dash or two of red pepper flakes some basil and didn't do the draining of pasta over spinich it wilts just fine on it's own. Love the second version and will make it many times!
