Penne Pasta with Balsamic Sweet Potatoes And Spinach

A healthy pasta dish with balsamic glazed sweet potatoes, baby spinach and pasta combined into  a delicious meal that everyone will enjoy!!


Ingredients:

1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into cubes
3 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 cups spinach or baby arugula  ( or kale, Swiss chard, collard greens)
2 cups dry penne pasta
1 T good-quality balsamic vinegar, or you many need a little more
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
2/3 cup coarsely-grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Peel sweet potatoes and cut them into 1 inch pieces.  Heat olive oil in a large heavy frying pan  and begin to saute the sweet potatoes over medium heat, stirring occasionally so they don't burn on one side.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil,  add the pasta, stir, and cook just until the pasta is aldente. 

Note***(If you want to make this with kale, swiss chard, or collard greens, they need to be washed, chopped, and then sauteed in additional olive oil in a separate pan, about 10 minutes total cooking time.  Then add them to the sweet potatoes when you add the cooked pasta.)

When sweet potatoes are soft and cooked through (about 8-10 minutes), turn heat to low and add the other 1 tsp. of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  Saute over low heat, stirring often, for 3-5 minutes more or until the sweet potatoes are all glazed with the vinegar. Season sweet potatoes well with salt and fresh-ground black pepper.

Wash the greens and then place in a large bowl.

 When pasta is done, remove 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water, then add the pasta, and arugula (or spinach) to the pan with the sweet potatoes and stir to combine.  Add the reserved pasta cooking water and stir gently, add most of the Parmesan cheese and stir. Serve hot, with the reserved parmesan cheese to sprinkle over each serving. 

recipe from:www.kalynskitchen.com