Vegan Penne Pasta with Mushrooms & Spinach

Vegan penne with mushrooms & spinach is a one pot meal and a one pot dish. Mushrooms, spinach and penne pasta are all cooked together to make this yummilicious meal.

My theme for this week’s blogging marathon is one pot dishes. I will be posting 3 one pot dishes all three days, starting today. The first in this series is vegan penne pasta.

I always cook pasta first and then add it to prepared sauce. Hence I was a bit apprehensive cooking pasta in one pot, without pre-cooking. The apprehension was that I might either overcook or undercook the pasta. However, it turned out perfect and only missing element in the pasta is cheese, which I ran out off.

There was some parmigiano reggiano in fridge and I did not bother to check to sell by date. When I opened the cheese box to add it to pasta, I realized it went bad and had to leave it out, making it vegan. Nevertheless, it was a yummy one pot meal, making it a vegan meal.

I do not really care much for cheese, however, for vegans, use vegan cheese to make it a filling, delicious meal.

I used mushrooms, spinach and tomato to suit my palate. One can add more tomatoes for more tomato flavor and sauce. Tomatoes can also be substitute with pasta sauce or marinara sauce. Though I made it a vegetarian vegan dish, one can add some chicken, shrimp or meat of choice to make a non vegetarian pasta dish.

Total Time: 30 minutes
Preparation: 5 - 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 17 - 20 minutes
Serves: 2 for a moderate appetite

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp. Oil
• 4-6 Garlic Cloves, chopped (about 1 -1 ½ tablespoon chopped)
• ¼ - ½ tsp. Red Pepper Flakes
• 2 cups diced Mushrooms (I used baby Bella mushrooms, about 8 oz)
• 1 large Vine Ripe Tomato, chopped ( about 1 heaped cup of chopped tomatoes)
• ¾ tsp. Salt (adjust to taste)
• ⅛ tsp. Dry Basil
• ⅛ tsp. Oregano
• ⅛ tsp. Thyme
• 1 cup Penne Pasta
• 1 ½ cups Water or Stock (I used water)
• 1 ½ - 2 cups chopped Spinach
• Freshly chopped Parsley and Basil for garnish
• Parmesan or Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese (opt and use vegan cheese for vegan pasta)

Preparation:

• Take saucepan or a saute pan and heat oil. I used a saucepan.
• Add garlic and saute until light brown.
• Add chili flakes and let the chili flavor infuse into oil.
• Add mushroom and saute for a minute or two until lightly roasted in infused oil.
• Add tomatoes, herbs, salt and cook for a minute.
• Add pasta, water / stock and give a good stir.
• Cover and cook for 10 minutes, stirring it in between.
• Water will reduce and the pasta will be almost cooked.
• Reduce the flame to medium low, cover and cook for another 5-7 minutes, stirring in between, until pasta is al dente.
• Add spinach and continue cooking until spinach wilts and is cooked.
• Turn off the heat, transfer to a serving bowl and sprinkle cheese. I did not have any at home and skipped. If you have parsley and/or basil on hand, sprinkle some fresh chopped parsley/basil and serve hot.

This day in 2013: Vegetable Pulao in Pressure Cooker
This day in 2014: Masi Samoa