This is a quick pasta recipe that you can throw together with ingredients sitting in the fridge and kick it up with Calabrian chili peppers.
Ingredients
1 ½ Cups Cherry or Grape Tomatoes
1 Cup Portabello Mushrooms, Chopped
2 Cups Fresh Spinach, Chopped
2 Tablespoons Garlic, Minced
2 to 4 Calabrian Chilis Packed in Oil, Minced
1 – 2 Tablespoons Oil from Calabrian Chilis
2 Cups Cooked Penne Pasta
Salt and Pepper
Shredded Parmesan Cheese
Fresh Basil, Chopped
Makes 2 Servings
Directions
Pour one-half to one tablespoon of the oil into a skillet (if you don’t have the Calabrian chilis packed in oil, you can use olive oil). Add the mushrooms and stir to coat with the oil. Cover and cook about five minutes (stirring every couple of minutes) until tender. Add the garlic and spinach and cook until the spinach is wilted (about one to two minutes). Remove the veggies from the skillet and place in a bowl.
Add the remaining oil, then add the tomatoes to the skillet. Cook for three to four minutes until they start to char, stirring often. Add in the cooked pasta and the Calabrian chilis and stir with the tomatoes. Cook for about one minute then add the reserved cooked vegetables and salt and pepper to taste. Stir it all together until everything is warmed properly.
Split the pasta across two plates or bowls and top with shredded parmesan cheese and fresh basil to serve.
If you use two Calabrian chilis, this will come up to about the Mild heat level on my scale. If you use four, it will get closer to Medium. If you do not have Calabrian chilis, you can use one to two tablespoons of red pepper flakes. If you do that, you will want to add them at the same point you add the mushrooms. Another substitute is Italian Bomba Sauce from Trader Joe’s. You will add that at the same time you would add the Calabrian chilis.
Other items you could add or substitute are chopped black olives, artichoke hearts, pine nuts, and/or broccoli.
Read more about Calabrian chilis here.