Ingredients:7 oz. penne pasta
3 oz. pancetta, diced
9 oz. bag of baby spinach leaves
2 oz. pine nuts
4 oz. sun-dried tomatoes, in oil and cut into 1/4 inch strips (or Julienne Cut)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined
Goat Cheese, crumbled
Salt & Pepper, to taste
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the pine nuts in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Bake the nuts for 3-4 minutes, or just until they start to brown and become fragrant. Remove the pine nuts from the oven, and set to the side.
Next, in a large pot or Dutch Oven, drizzle about 2 tbsp of the olive oil. Add pancetta and cook for 5 - 7 minutes, stirring often...until the pancetta becomes brown and is cooked thoroughly. Next, add the sun-dried tomatoes to the pan of pancetta, along with the flavored oil from the sun-dried tomato jar (about 1-2 tbsp). Continue to cook until the tomatoes begin to soften.
While the pancetta and tomatoes cook, bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente. Let the pasta cook while you finish the rest of the recipe (10-11 minutes).
After 3-4 minutes, the sun-dried tomatoes will begin to soften. At this point, add the entire bag of spinach to the pot. Begin stirring the mixture, completely mixing the ingredients. Continuously saute/stir the mixture in the oil until the spinach is completely wilted and shiny. It should be a beautifully green color. Season with salt and pepper.
The spinach mixture should look like this...
Remove the spinach mixture from the pot and place on a platter, putting it to the side.
Next, drizzle a little more olive oil into the pot, if needed. Add the shrimp and cook on each side for 2-3 minutes. Once the shrimp is cooked through, add the spinach mixture back to the pot.
Add the pine nuts, stirring well. At this point, the pasta should be just about finished. Drain the pasta and add it to the pot with the rest of the ingredients. Give it one final stir.
Plate the pasta and top with the crumbled goat cheese.
Serve immediately!
