Our favorite dish at Noodles & Company is Pasta Fresca. So you can imagine my joy when I just happened to come across a recipe for it on the Pillsbury site! I customized it to our tastes and we just loved it! It’s simple, too, especially if you use a store-bought rotisserie chicken!
Ingredients
3 cups uncooked fusilli or gemelli or rotini pasta (or whatever you like)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
1/2 cup balsamic vinaigrette dressing
handful of cherry tomatoes
2 cups cooked chicken, chopped
1 package (6 oz.) fresh baby spinach leaves
1/2 cup parmesan or feta cheese
Directions
Cook pasta as directed on package. Drain. Meanwhile, in a nonstick skillet heat oil over medium-high heat. Cook onion in oil until soft and (if you like) browned, 2 minutes or more (I probably went 10 minutes. I like our onions to start to caramelize.) Add dressing, tomatoes, pasta and chicken. Cook 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until hot. Stir in spinach. Cook 1 to 2 minutes or until spinach starts to wilt. Yum!
Notes
- You can also used two large tomatoes (chopped) in place of the cherry tomatoes. I kind of like how the cherry tomatoes brown then sort of pop when they’re cooked!
- When you add the spinach, you’ll swear it’s way too much. But it cooks down to about 1/4 of its original size so don’t worry!
- This is even better the second day, as with many pasta dishes!
