{spinach and artichoke pasta}

Oh BOY was this meal a hit! {at least with Jesse and I...Candace said it could have used a few adjustments. BLAH.} I got the recipe for this pasta from here. Rather than re-write it, I'll just link you to the site I found it from. I did make a few minor adjustments, though. 

Adjustment 1: I used more noodles than her recipe called for {and a different type of noodles}. I was/am very unfamiliar with these 'Orecchiette' pasta noodles and didn't even see them on the store shelf {is this a specialty item?!} so I bought dumpling noodles. They seemed like they'd make a good pasta noodle {and they did}. This bag had 16 oz. {her recipe calls for 14 oz.}.

Adjustment 2: It humored me that the blogger made a comment that this meal was FULL of veggies! It had spinach, artichoke, and onions. That didn't shout 'full of veggies' to me. So I was chuckling over this fact...but the wheels started turning and I began to wonder, "what can I add to make it 'full of veggies?" Well, I had just bought red peppers {on sale at Bi-Lo this week for $.99!}. It seemed like they'd taste good - so I sauteed some up on the stove. {I cut them up in pretty small pieces just in case they didn't taste well with the pasta.} We also had a can of black olives {which I LOVE} so I cut those up and added them in as well! I snacked on a bunch of the olives while I was cutting them {hehe} so I think the only adjustment I would make for next time is to not do that. I thought they really added a nice flavor to the pasta! {As did the red peppers...and I also liked the little bit of crunch they added}.  I think this is a 'flexible' pasta in that you can add whatever veggies you choose! yay! 

Adjustment 3: Because I used more pasta than the recipe called for, I also added in more of the other ingredients {such as the sour cream}. 

Adjustment 4: I didn't want to buy a lemon to get the lemon zest {because we wouldn't use the lemon and it would go to waste} so I opted not to include that. It might have helped give it more flavor - but I think the olives and red pepper worked well to fix that.

NOTE: Because I used more noodles - I was able to make two meals and have one waiting in the freezer to be baked in the future. Yay for making my future life easier! :)

As I said earlier, this meal was a smashing success! Jesse was literally hovering in the kitchen waiting for this meal to be finished 'because it looked and smelled so good.' and when he took his first bite, he was like, "MMMMMMMM this is SO good! Also, between the 3 of us - we finished that 9 x 13 pan in one meal. yeah, it was just that good. :)