This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Barilla® The opinions and text are all mine.

During summer vacation, dinnertime meals are mostly a free-for-all.  We don’t plan meals and we don’t consistently cook either.  But now that school is back in session, my wife and I are back to alternating dinner duties. (Happy Wife Tip #1: Sharing household duties with your wife makes her happy…really happy.  We’re a team.)

I must hand it to my wife. She does all the grocery shopping and she keeps our house stocked with all the staples that I need to make the kids a healthy meal that does not take me long to cook — no complex recipes for me.  For instance, she makes sure we have tomato soup for grilled cheese and soup dinners. She makes sure we have frozen broccoli in the freezer and bags of fresh spinach in the fridge.  And, she always keeps Barilla® pasta and Barilla® sauce in the pantry as they are my go to ingredients for creating delicious, healthy meals.  In fact, Barilla sauce is made of high quality, wholesome ingredients and each serving of sauce has two servings of vegetables and no preservatives.

By the way, I recently made the switch to a mostly vegetarian diet. And although the entire family has not made the switch with me, we have decreased the amount of meat that we eat overall as a family. With the help of Barilla pastas and sauces, our meatless nights are becoming a family favorite. Check out one of my favorite recipes to fix with my girls. It’s Quick. It’s Easy. It’s Cheesy.

It’s Quick. It’s Easy. It’s Cheesy.

Dad’s Night Penne Pasta Surprise

Ingredients:

• 16 oz. bag of baby spinach (washed and ready to cook)
• 1 Box of Barilla Penne Pasta
• 3 Tbsps. butter
• 1 Tbsps. minced garlic
• 1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning (optional)
• ½ Tsp. salt
• 2 Jars Barilla Marinara sauce
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese
• Surprise: have your kids add their favorite topping – parmesan cheese, crushed crackers, black olives, or mushrooms – – whatever they like.

 Instructions:

1. Cook pasta according to the instructions on the package and drain.
2. Over medium heat, in a large skillet, melt butter and sauté garlic and spinach until the spinach softens.
3. Stir in pasta and Italian seasoning and salt.
4. Pour in marinara sauce and heavy whipping cream and stir.
5. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese on the top. Reduce heat and keep heating until cheese is melted.  It’s ready to serve. For our family of 5, this makes enough for two nights.

 Cooking time: 20 minutes

Dad’s night is a family affair. The kids help and my wife sits at the kitchen island shaking her head and laughing because she can’t believe I pull this off so effortlessly on my nights. (Happy Wife Tip #2: Trust me fellas, wives love watching their husbands in the kitchen and if you get the kids involved you’ll have some serious brownie points later.)

 

BMWK – Share your quick and easy pasta recipes in the comments below.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Barilla®. The opinions and text are all mine.