This creamy herb and lemon penne will quickly become a favourite in your dinner rotation. It’s rich and creamy yet light and refreshing from the herbs and lemon! Plus it’s super quick and easy as it all comes together in less than an hour with minimal prep and equipment.
Quick and Easy – The Perfect Weeknight Dinner
This creamy herb and lemon penne is one of the few meals that I have made more than once. For someone who always wants to try cooking something new – this says a lot! It’s creamy but light and refreshing from the herbs and lemon juice. It’s packed with vegetables so it’s also balanced and healthy. The best part I would say is the aromatic element of the leeks. Unlike its cousins, leeks are mild but still add a lot of flavour.
Creamy herb and lemon pasta dinner in just 2 pots – easy clean up!
You probably don’t need any more convincing but this recipe is also super easy and quick! It all comes together in less than an hour with minimal prep and equipment needed. It’s perfect for any day but especially those busy weeknights. In summary, delicious dinner, easy clean up, yes please.
The ingredients that you’ll need to make this recipe:
- 3 Stalks of leeks, frozen peas, spinach, 1 -2 lemons
- Dried basil and oregano for the herbs
- Greek yogurt, cream cheese, and coconut milk
- Penne pasta (or any other shape of pasta you prefer)
- Salt and pepper to taste
Looking for the perfect dessert pairing for after dinner?
I’m the kind of person who eats dessert after breakfast, lunch and dinner and for snacks. So I got you covered!
- Classic French Lemon Tart (Tarte au Citron)
- Flourless Chocolate Cake
- Strawberry Lemon Panna Cotta
- Spiced and Zesty Peach Galette
Creamy Herb and Lemon Penne recipe:
Creamy Herb and Lemon Penne
Ingredients
- 3 stalks leeks
- 200 g frozen peas
- 250 g spinach (I used the pre-washed packaged variety)
- 1 tbsp dried basil (can use fresh here if you prefer!)
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- freshly cracked black pepper
- salt
- olive oil
- 100 g yogurt (I used 2% Greek yogurt)
- 60 g cream cheese (This is 1/4 of the standard brick. Can omit and increase yogurt instead)
- 1/4-1/2 cup coconut milk (or cow's milk/any other milk alternative)
- 250 g penne pasta
- 1-1 1/2 cups pasta water
- juice from 1/2 - 1 lemon (depending on how zesty your preference is)
Instructions
- Wash the leeks, chop off the dark green leaves (they're too fibrous to be eaten), keeping the light green and white parts. Then slice the stalk down the middle lengthwise and wash again between the layers (sometimes dirt is trapped in there). Then chop into thin slices.
- Start cooking the pasta and while that happens continue to make the rest of the recipe
- In a pot on medium heat, drizzle some olive oil and sautee the leeks until aromatic.
- In the same pot as the leeks, add in the frozen peas, spinach, basil, oregano and pepper and salt to taste.
- At this point, your pasta is probably already boiling or cooked. So take a cup of pasta water and pour it over the vegetables. Cook until spinach is wilted down.
- Add in yogurt, cream cheese and milk. Stir until the cream cheese is incorporated. At any point, if it gets too dry, add more pasta water.
- Drain the cooked pasta and add it to the creamy vegetable mixture. Stir until the pasta is coated in luscious creaminess.
- Last step: Drizzle lemon juice to your liking, this brings out the herb flavour even more and adds a zest! Add more salt and pepper as needed. Then serve!
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a comment below and tag @chocolateandconnie on Instagram.
For more weeknight dinner ideas, head to the highlights section of my instagram @chocolateandconnie
this penne is gonna be a regular in your dinner rotation