Easy Weeknight Balsamic and Goat Cheese Pasta
By: @leisurefanclub
Ingredients
4 cloves Garlic
5 tbsp Olive oil
10 oz Broccoli florets
1/8 cup Sun dried tomatoes (Chopped)
8 oz Baby bella mushroom (Sliced)
2 Large handfuls of spinach
1/2 tsp Salt (Plus more to taste)
1/4 tsp Freshly ground black pepper (Plus more to taste)
1/4 tsp Red chili flakes (Plus more to taste)
1 box Penne pasta
4 oz Goat cheese
1/4 cup Balsamic vinegar
1 Lemon (Juiced)
1/4 cup Pine nuts
Instructions
Add 1 tbsp olive oil to a pan and heat on medium heat. Add chopped garlic and cook for 1 minute, or until fragrant. Add broccoli florets, along with 2 tbsp olive oil and lower heat to medium low, stirring every so often to make sure nothing burns. Cook for about 3 minutes.
Cook penne according to the instructions on the box. (If, like me, you used chickpea pasta, cook it for a minute or two less than it says to. It's not great mushy.)
Add the mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes, and 2 tbsp olive oil to the pan with the broccoli and garlic. Cook for a couple minutes and then mix in 2 large handfuls of spinach, then add in the salt, pepper and red chili flakes before decreasing the heat to low.
Once the spinach is fully incorporated and thoroughly wilted, add the balsamic vineger, lemon juice, and 2 of of the goat cheese and mix until a sauce forms.
Toast the pine nuts in a small pan on medium heat. They're ready when they start to smell nutty and look slightly golden and a big shiny. You'll want to keep a watchful eye on these, as they're expensive and burn quickly.
Add the pasta into the vegetable pan, along with 1 more oz of goat cheese and the toasted pine nuts. Mix to fully coat everything, and then add a bit more salt, pepper and red chili flakes to taste.
Portion into 4 bowls, and top with crumbled bits of the remaining goat cheese.