Years ago I attempted to make ‘healthy’ gluten free pasta and let’s just say the results turned me off from all ‘guilt free’ pasta ever since. My healthy noodles turned out frail, lifeless, and took all the happiness out of consuming carbs. As my family would say when I try to feed them something with kale in it and they don’t want to offend me, “it tasted healthy.” 

Panic ensued as pasta at fine Italian restaurants left my heart happy, but stomach doing somersaults; to the point where I rarely consumed one of America’s favorite carbohydrates since there wasn’t a cleaner alternative that actually pleased my taste buds.

About a month ago I found myself getting lost in the Trader Joe’s snack aisle. You know, the one where all the good carbs are at. This was a real TJ black out at its finest, as I left with brown rice pasta, black bean pasta, and a cart full of ingredients to make a clean pasta recipe that I would actually crave. I don’t even know how it happened, but here we are and I am so excited to share this simple and easy recipe with you.

You guys didn’t come here for my small talk–let’s get into it! I am not a vegetarian, but you can easily leave out the Italian sausage to fit your dietary restrictions. I love packing lots of veggies into my pasta so that I feel like I’m still getting a lot of nutritional value, but feel free to do whatever makes your heart happy. 

I used Trader Joe’s traditional pasta sauce, as it’s very affordable (about 1/3 the price of Rao’s) and uses very minimal ingredients. Quick, affordable, and kind to your body–what more do you need in a pasta recipe?

Ingredients:

1 tbs olive oil

Directions:

• Cook your brown rice pasta according to the package. Once done, set aside.
• Cook sausage links in a small pan. (If you’re vegetarian, skip this step).
• While your pasta and sausage are cooking, heat olive oil in a large pan on medium heat. Add your peppers and onions. Cook 2-3 minutes.
• Add your mushrooms, salt, and red pepper flakes and cook for another 5-8 minutes. 
• Add 2 cups of spinach and saute for another minute. 
• Add in your sausage, noodles, and pasta sauce according to your preference. Done!

I could honestly eat Trader Joe’s brown rice plain–it’s that GOOD. Thank the gluten free Gods someone was able to give clean pasta a good name. Tag or DM me in your pasta creations, I want to see you guys fall in love with this clean pasta recipe like I have!