Healthy Penne Recipes

Getting in your daily servings of vegetables is easy when you feature this veggie-loaded pasta recipe. It's full of broccoli, asparagus, and tomatoes and a creamy ricotta-tomato sauce--you'll be amazed that it takes just 25 minutes to prepare.

Homemade pesto may seem daunting, but in this quick pasta recipe you can make a simple sauce in minutes while the pasta water comes to a boil. You can substitute frozen green beans and cauliflower for fresh; in Step 4, cook the frozen vegetables according to package directions before tossing with the pasta and pesto.

This one-pan pasta that combines lean chicken breast and sautéed spinach for a one-bowl meal is garlicky, lemony and best served with a little Parm on top. I call it "Mom's Skillet Pasta" and she called it "Devon's Favorite Pasta." Either way it's a quick and easy weeknight dinner we created together and scribbled on a little recipe card more than a decade ago, and it remains in my weekly dinner rotation to this day. It's a simple dinner the whole family will love.

This delicious one-skillet pasta meal-for-two is ready in just 35 minutes! Turkey--seasoned with a spicy Italian-seasoning blend--is served with tomoto sauce and wilted spinach over multi-grain pasta.

Just a sprinkling of walnuts lends crunch and flavor to this vegetarian pasta dish, without adding a lot of fat or calories.

Tender chunks of eggplant take the place of ground beef or sausage in this vegetarian pasta sauce recipe, which is made in your slow cooker.

In the mood for Italian? Try this low-fat sausage-and-eggplant one-dish meal recipe.

Need a quick pasta dish that's flavorful and colorful? This penne pasta dinner-for-two combines leeks, baby spinach, tuna and sun-dried tomatoes--and it's ready in just 20 minutes!

This pasta dish is a perfect choice for weeknight cooking. In just 35 minutes, you'll be serving up penne pasta and broccoli rabe with fresh tomatoes and bacon. It's a meal your whole family will enjoy.

Crispy, seared scallops combine with whole-grain pasta and greens to make this flavorful complete meal.

Smother pasta with this slow cooker vegetable and turkey sauce for an easy and satisfying meal.

Fresh pesto brilliantly compliments the lemon and garlic flavors of this juicy chicken dinner.

This comforting and flavorful vegetarian dish is packed with protein.

This easy slow cooker ground beef and pasta recipe makes a great meal any night of the week.

This quick and easy recipe tops multigrain or whole-grain pasta with flavorful chicken, broccoli and diced vegetables. With 0 grams of saturated fat and 20 grams of protein per serving, this recipe has everything you need for a no-hassle dinner.

This chicken Parmesan pasta uses the one-pot pasta method to cook your noodles, chicken and sauce all in one skillet for a fast and easy dinner with minimal cleanup. Finish the dish under the broiler to achieve a delicious melted cheese crust.

We love using chickpea pasta in this quick and easy dinner recipe, but other bean pastas or whole-wheat noodles are just as good with this fresh and zesty pesto sauce.

For a fast weeknight pasta dinner, why not cook your sauce and pasta all at once? By using the exact amount of water you need to cook the pasta--no colanders here--the starch that cooks off into your pasta water, which you usually drain away, stays in the pot, giving you delectably creamy results.

Lemon zest ties all the flavors together in this light and creamy pasta. Make it a meal: Serve with a salad of sliced fresh mozzarella and cherry tomatoes tossed with a little fresh basil, balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Penne tossed with spring vegetables, such as carrots, morel mushrooms, asparagus, peas and fava beans, along with loads of fresh herbs is a perfect example of Mario Batali's rustic approach to great-tasting Italian food. When both fava beans and morel mushrooms are in season, by all means use them in this recipe. But if you can't find either of those, substitute what looks best. Basic cremini mushrooms will work and frozen lima beans are a good option. Recipe adapted from Molto Gusto by Mario Batali and Mark Ladner (Ecco/HarperCollins Publishers, 2010).