Pasta Fresca

My favorite dish at Noodles & Co is their pasta fresca. Noticing that I was on the verge of becoming addicted, I searched for their recipe and came up with something that doesn't taste quite the same, but is still definitely delicious. The original recipe I found is here.

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 1/4 cups farfalle pasta
• 1 roma tomato, cubed
• 1/4 red onion, diced
• dash of salt
• dash of fresh ground black pepper (the first time I've used that in my cooking!)
• a handful (maybe an ounce?) of fresh baby spinach

For the sauce (makes way too much, but I can't really scale it down any more):

• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/8 c balsamic vinegar
• 1/8 c sweet white wine (I used sauvignon blanc)
• 1/4 c extra virgin olive oil

Process:

1. Cook the pasta as directed for 'al dente,' drain.
2. While the pasta is cooking, prepare the sauce: combine the garlic, salt, balsamic vinegar, white wine, and olive oil in a small bowl; stir and set aside.
3. In a hot saute pan, add 1 tsp olive oil, the pre-cooked pasta, tomato, onion, salt, and pepper.
4. Cook, stirring constantly, until everything is heated through.
5. Add the baby spinach and about half of the prepared fresca sauce.
6. Continue to cook until the spinach is slightly wilted; remove from heat and serve with grated parmesan cheese.

I made 2 servings of this dish, fully intending to save the second for lunch the next day. Didn't happen. I went back for seconds immediately. It didn't taste quite like the Noodles & Co dish, but I think in some ways I liked it  a lot more. For one thing, I am much more generous with my use of vegetables than Noodles & Co is. I also scaled way back on the olive oil, and when I make this again I will scale it back even more. Adding some grilled chicken to the mix would probably also be good for my non-vegetarian friends. Anyway, I'm definitely planning on making this again. So delicious!

Ready to go!

I had a glass of the same wine I cooked with - and lit a candle to make it extra fancy!