Spinach And Chorizo Red Pesto Penne. A healthy pasta dish with spinach, tomatoes and chorizo sausage, smothered in a flavourful red pesto sauce. On the table in 20 minutes!
Pesto, of any variety, is one of my favourite sauces to use on pasta – a little goes a long way, and it imparts a wonderfully rich flavour to your dish. Most people will be familiar with the traditional green pesto made with basil, but if you have never tried a ‘red pesto’ version with sun-dried tomatoes and red peppers, I urge you to do so. There are lots of good pre-prepared pestos available in jars from supermarkets these days, if you don’t fancy making your own, but do try to find one with an olive oil base, rather than sunflower oil, or – even worse – some weird, suspiciously labelled ‘vegetable oil’.
Here the pasta and red pesto combine with gently wilted spinach and juicy cherry tomatoes softened in olive oil and garlic. A few chunks of Spanish chorizo sausage add a sweet and smoky touch that complements the pesto beautifully.
Even better, it can be on the table in 20 minutes from start to finish!
If you would like some more ideas for healthy pasta dishes, my Mediterranean Tuna and Roast Pepper Fusilli recipe is a favourite of mine!
Spinach and Chorizo Red Pesto Penne
Prep
Cook
Total
Yield 6 people
Spinach And Chorizo Red Pesto Penne. A healthy pasta dish with spinach, tomatoes and chorizo sausage, smothered in a flavourful red pesto sauce. On the table in 20 minutes!
Ingredients
- 500g (5 cups) dried penne pasta
- 190g (1 cup) jar red pesto
- 200g (5 cups) fresh spinach
- 350g (1.5 cups) cherry tomatoes, halved
- 200g (2 cups) chorizo sausage, chopped into small chunks
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced or chopped very finely
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Heat a large pan of salted water. When the water has reached a rolling boil, add the dried pasta and cook according to the instructions on the packet (usually 10-12 minutes) until the pasta is ‘al dente’ (still slightly firm).
- Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a frying pan and add the garlic. Gently fry for 1 minute. Do not allow the garlic to burn.
- Add the halved cherry tomatoes to the pan and cook for 3 minutes.
- Add the chorizo and cook for a further 2-3 minutes.
- Add the spinach and continue cooking for 2-3 minutes until wilted.
- Drain the cooked pasta, but retain a few tablespoons of the water the pasta was cooked in. Return the pasta to the saucepan along with the water.
- Add the red pesto to the cooked pasta and stir through while heating gently.
- Add the spinach, tomatoes and chorizo to the pasta and mix well to combine.
- Serve immediately.
Courses Main Dishes
Cuisine Mediterranean
Join me as I make healthy Mediterranean style recipes!
Quick and delicious
Excellent!
I’d appreciate if you could give the nutritional information with the recipes
This was excellent! I added some chicken breast too, cut into strips; beautiful!
Absolutely delicious,first time I’ve ever used pesto
SOOOOOOO good. I didn’t use olive oil though, I fried off the chorizo first, then added the garlic. Really quick and simple and tastes amazing. Will DEFINITELY be having this again and again.