A Light vegan penne pasta made with mushrooms and spinach. I used a light coconut milk sauce to mix all the ingredients together. Its the perfect quick dinner recipe with just a few ingredients. Its also made with red lentil pasta
Disclosure – This post is sponsored by (affiliate link) Barilla but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.
I love a pasta recipe with very few ingredients.
A quick pasta recipe that takes very little effort to make and tastes delicious!
Who can resist that pasta for dinner, right?
Barilla red lentil pasta
Today’s recipe is a quick, easy penne pasta recipe made with (affiliate link) Barilla’s Red Lentil Pasta which is a huge game changer for me.
It’s good in a light sauce, marinara sauce, or a whole bunch of grilled veggies. Or, make this super simple bucatini cacio e pepe by Running To The Kitchen. Yesterday, I made this amazing French onion pasta using this pasta, and it was beyond delicious!
The beauty of this pasta is that it can be flavored a hundred ways! The pasta happens to be gluten-free, low carb, and non-gmo certified, as well as, all vegan
It has all plant-based proteins and NO animal protein. How awesome is that!
Tips for making this mushroom penne pasta
– Use very small baby bella mushrooms in this recipe because they blend well with the pasta
– If you wash mushrooms right before you cook them, make sure they are very dry. Water tends to make these mushrooms soggy. Ideally, wash them the day before and wrap them in paper towel to absorb any moisture
– Make sure you slice the mushroom as thinly as possible. It might be a little tedious, but, so worth the effort
– I used fresh spinach in this recipe because that’s all I had in my refrigerator. You can experiment with frozen spinach and let me know how it tasted
– Be sure to use full fat coconut milk to make the sauce because lite coconut milk makes the pasta runny
– If you have time, make this Greek seasoning and put it in the coconut sauce.
– I also recommend using my vegan Alfredo sauce or Fit As A Mama Bear’s coconut milk Alfredo sauce. They both work great with mushrooms and spinach
– The lime zest really brings all the flavors together, so, don’t skip it
Cooking the lentil pasta
1) Start by putting 5 cups of water in a strong bottom pot
2) Add 1/4 tsp salt and bring water to a boil
3) Set the heat to medium high
4) Add 2 cups of the red lentil penne pasta into the boiling water
5) Give it a quick stir and let it cook
6) I noticed that this pasta has a lot of starch floating to the top. So, I skimmed off as much of the starch as I could during the cooking process
7) The package calls for cooking it for 7 minutes of cooking time for “Al Dente” pasta. I actually cooked it for 9 minutes
8) Drain the pasta and put it immediately into the pan with the mushrooms. I found that the cooked penne pasta dries quickly, so, I sauce it immediately
Veggies to add to vegan pasta
– Kale (instead of the spinach)
– Bell Peppers
– Asparagus
– Onions
– Sun-dried tomatoes
– Red pepper flakes for a slightly spicy penne pasta recipe
Answering Common Questions
Spinach is definitely optional in this penne pasta recipe. But, it adds additional nutrients and a differently texture to the red lentil pasta.
Plus, they are easy to cook and a great way to get my veggies in for the day. Kale or even collard greens will be good substitute for the pasta. Collard greens are a little unusual, but, if you have tried my ultimate antioxidant smoothie, you know that they are a pleasant surprise in any recipe
Yes, but, freeze only the sauce part. The red lentil penne pasta doesn’t freeze well and its best when consumed hot.
However, you can make the mushrooms and sauce in advance and save it. Mix it into the pasta when you are ready to consume it. You can also add a little pumpkin puree to the sauce like I did in my mushroom stroganoff
Yes, you can use regular wheat, GMO, pesticide laden, gut-ripping pasta in this recipe. It will taste good, sure. But, is it worth hurting your gut?
So, try this pasta recipe tonight and let me know what you think. Be sure to rate it below and comment on what you thought of it.
This pasta happens to be a delicious low-carb pasta. If you like low carb recipes, try my whipped feta dip and my olive salad.
Vegan pasta recipes
If you are a fan of light pasta meals, then you are in luck. Some of my blogger friends and I have a few recipes that you can try. Which one is your favorite?
Balsamic Dressing Pasta Salad by Life Currents
Creamy Lemon Pasta by Bowl-Me-Over
Casarecce Pasta with Broccolini Rabe
Sharing is caring
Don’t be shy, chime in below in the comments. Let me hear your opinion on this recipe. If you enjoyed this, please give it 5 stars and share it on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram.
Penne Pasta With Mushrooms
Ingredients
- 2 cup Barilla Red Lentil Penne Pasta
- water To cook the pasta
- 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic finely diced
- 8 oz baby bella mushrooms slice them very thin
- 3 oz baby spinach about 2 cups loosely packed
- 1.5 cup coconut milk or cream
- 1 tsp salt adjust to your taste
- 1 Tbsp oregano dried or fresh
- 2 sprigs parsley or 1 tsp dried parsely
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1.5 tsp lime zest
Instructions
- Start by boiling the water for the pasta while working on the other ingredients
- Heat a pan for 30 seconds and add the oil
- Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds on medium heat
- Add the mushrooms and stir well
- Cook mushrooms on medium heat for about 7minutes or until they start to brown
- Add the spinach, but, don’t stir it
- When the spinach is half its size, stir the mixture and cook for about 2 minutes
- While the mushrooms are browning, the water should be ready, so, add the penne pasta
- Cook the penne pasta for about 9 minutes. See notes
- Drain the pasta and add it to the mushroom + spinach mixture
- Add all the remaining ingredients (except the lime zest)
- Mix well and let it cook for about 3 minutes on medium heat
- Turn off heat and add the lime zest
- Mix well and serve immediately
I would eat up every last bit of this! In fact, I may have everything but the mushrooms to make it. On the next store trip I’ll pick those up! This looks so good!
Thank you so much, Debi. I am so glad you like it.
Hi there. The recipe looks delicious but the nutritional information per portion is not correct.
Protein 16g : 64 calories
Carbs 40g: 160 calories
Fats 21.5g: 193 calories
Total: 417 calories
Hello Andrea, thank you for your email. We use an automatic service that counts calories based on a standard metrics. I will confirm the numbers with them and let you know.