I had Penne Rosa at Noodles and Company once, and it was then I realized I had to make something similar as quickly as possible. Two months later (yes, that was “as quickly as possible”), I stormed into the grocery store, demanded their entire stock of basil, and made a delicious dish. How similar it is to Noodles and Company, well, I just can’t say: let me remind you that I only had it once, didn’t take notes, and then let two months pass me by. But regardless, it’s fresh and perfect and I loved every bite. I mean, white wine and cream? As I’ve said before and I’ll say again until I draw my final breath, you can’t go wrong with those two things. Oh, and there’s garlic. I’m sorry, excuse me while I step to the side and faint dead away. I love that stuff.
Ingredients
1 lb penne pasta
4 TBS oil, divided
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch asparagus, chopped
8 oz sliced mushrooms
1 c heavy whipping cream
1-28 oz can diced tomatoes
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
3/4 c white wine
1 tsp brown sugar
3 cups fresh basil leaves, torn
Salt and pepper to taste
Parmesan, for sprinkling
Put your pasta water on to boil. I used mini penne, which boasted a super quick cooking time. I bought it mostly because it was cute, but I also thought it would mingle with the sauce better than its larger counterpart. Here’s the whole happy group together:
Roughly chop your asparagus on the diagonal (after removing the tough ends). This way of cutting it adds surface area to the pieces, which means more spots hit the pan/oil, which in turn adds flavor. Or maybe I’m just making that up.
Heat 2 TBS oil in a pan or pot. When hot, add the asparagus and fry for about 3 minutes. Add salt and pepper.
The asparagus will be bright green and crunchy after those 3 minutes–it’s the right time to remove it.
You don’t want to keep cooking it since it will later rejoin the sauce. If you cook it for too long up front, we’re talking a green mushy mess later.
You’d better have your garlic chopped by now–in this dish, I like it slivered instead of minced. The cooking time takes the edge off of the garlicky flavor, so encountering a larger chunk or slice is actually quite a pleasant experience.
Heat the remaining oil in the same pot over medium high heat. Add the garlic and mushrooms, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often so that the garlic doesn’t burn.
Add salt, pepper, and the red pepper flakes while it’s cooking.
The brown bits. Oh, the brown bits. I would lick them out of the pot if it didn’t mean cooking my own tongue in the process.
Add the wine, and cook for about 3 minutes, scraping the bottom to make sure all those brown bits get incorporated, loved, and assimilated.
Now, add the tomatoes.
Cook over high heat for 15 minutes, until reduced by half. You don’t want a watery sauce, so let it boil away aggressively. Add the brown sugar somewhere along the line.
Your (salted) pasta water should boil somewhere along the way . . . so get that goin’. Just look at those precious little noodles!
Now, add the cream to your sauce. Cook for another 5 minutes over medium high, letting the sauce thicken.
Please try to avoid drinking the whole concoction at this point. My mamma taught me that patience is a virtue . . . but one little spoonful can’t hurt, right? Mamma?
During the last minute of cooking, add the asparagus back in. A couple of my basil leaves snuck in too, but for the rest of you, hold those back for one more minute.
Now, take the sauce off the heat–trust me–and add the basil. I added half the basil at this point, and half after it was served into individual bowls. You don’t want to basil to cook and wilt–it’s best in this dish when it’s fresh, green, and as crunchy as it can be.
Once your pasta is cooked and drained, dump it into the pot with the sauce and mix it all together. You know what’s happening in that pot? One big lovefest.
Serve and sprinkle with parmesan, or parmesan shavings if you want to feel fancy.
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View Comments (23)
Looks beautiful! Isn't it fun when you can re-create something that you've eaten at a restaurant?
looks beautiful! i love noodles & co but i've never had this so i'm not sure how close it is to theirs but it looks amazingly delicious.
ahhhh...mazing. I bet it's so much better than the version resto. Why does it seem I read these so close to lunchtime, yet so far away? An entire 1.5 hours to go!
i am so jealous of your photos! Mine look like a three year old took them!
this dish is beautiful and making me crave pasta at 9 am... haha
Thanks Claire! And BTW, your photos do NOT look like a 3 y.o. took them--I loved your pix of Martha's Vineyard. They were beautiful!
yes, mama says a spoonful is OK! ...although the more spoonfuls you taste-test, the less saucy wonderfulness incorporated into that love-fest of food!!
looks delicious!! I may need to try this one…
Wow! This dinner looks fantastic! I love the pictures illustrating throughout. Thanks for sharing such a great recipe :)
Just made it...just ate it...just put it on my list of favorites. You re-created a masterpiece! P.S. I used 1/2 and 1/2 instead of heavy whipping cream and it worked well. I also used 1/2 garden tomatoes and 1/2 spicy diced tomatoes (whatever I had in the cupboard) and the kick was yummy, too. Thanks for the great recipe and the beautiful food pics!
Yay! I'm so glad you liked it Beth! =)
Oh the penne rosa. I just made it again, this time with a bell pepper (added to the asparagus during its last 2 minutes of pan cooking), grilled chicken, a few extra garden tomatoes, and some canned spicy hot tomatoes. (I like it extra saucy.) Next time I might throw in some Italian sausage.
Thanks for the scrumptiousness!
Beth
You're welcome!! . . . and I will soon be making your scrumptious Jewish Cheesecake Pie.
Hi...I found your blog through pioneerwoman's tasty kitchen....i love love love your photos...!! Are all the ones above edited or are they untouched...? what settings do you use for indoors? Keep up the great work!
Thanks Sukaina! I do edit most of my photos with Photoshop (I got the program practically free from a certain graduate student in my life =). I usually adjust exposure and brighten them, and sometimes I need to adjust the white balance because different parts of my kitchen have slightly different light, so some shots are bluer or yellower and need a tweak. I don't do a lot, though. My settings for indooors are usually the widest aperture I can get, and since I cook in the evenings when it's not light enough, I always use my SB600 external flash (I wrote a post on it in the Photography section--it's awesome). This flash can be pointed at the ceilings or walls, so the light bounces off and illuminates the whole shot without washing it out like a flash pointing directly at the subject would do.
Hope that answers your questions! Thanks for the encouragement!