Whole Grain Penne Recipe with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce, Cauliflower & Capers {Giveaway}

Feb 21, 2012 by Dara 209 Comments

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When you’re trying to shed some pounds (more on my story coming very soon), you have to make each meal count. More bang for your calorie buck, I say. For me, that meant increasing my fiber intake at each meal. Since both my husband and I are runners, we regularly work pasta meals into our dinner rotation, particularly the night before our long runs. We used to slurp up regular semolina spaghetti noodles like nobody’s business but over the past couple of years we gradually made the switch to whole grain pasta. When we packed the dishes with vegetables, protein (chicken, shrimp, etc.) and tasty sauces – or “goodies” as we call them – the kids didn’t even notice the difference.

Each of our boys favors different pasta shapes. The 7-year old insists that the rotini (also known as “curly”, “twists” or “tornadoes” in our house) taste better than any other pasta in our pantry, while the 10-year old swears by the penne (in his favorite baked ziti recipe). My husband will eat whichever variety is placed in front of him as long as there are plenty of vegetables involved. The man’s healthy eating habits put us all to shame! As for me, I’m not picky. As long as it tastes good and keeps me full for several hours, I’m game for any whole grain variety.

Whenever I cruise the pasta aisle at the grocery story, the boxes of Barilla® Whole Grain pasta always catch my eye and eventually pile into my cart.

Barilla® Whole Grain pastas are made with 51% whole wheat and pack a whole lot of fiber. To be specific, the whole grain varieties have three times as much fiber as the regular kinds. If you are trying to keep up with the recommended daily intake of fiber, switching to whole grain pasta is a pretty easy way to do this. We work it into some of our favorite recipes, such as Healthy Lasagne with Turkey, Pesto & Peppers and Fusilli with Teriyaki Salmon & Vegetables.

If you are not convinced the whole grain variety is going to float your pasta boat, I urge you to give it a try. Barilla® makes the challenge even more tempting. If you don’t love their whole grain pasta, you will get a free box of the Barilla® blue box pasta. So, what’s stopping you?

If you’re looking for more ways to use whole grain pasta, be sure to visit TryBarillaWholeGrain.com. They have a dinner kit section which houses an extensive selection of recipes.

The recipe:

The sauce:
In the bowl of a food processor or heavy-duty blender, combine roasted red peppers, toasted almonds, garlic, cilantro, Parmesan cheese and lime juice. Puree together until just combined. With motor running, slowly pour in the olive oil and puree until the sauce is smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

Transfer the sauce to a small saucepan set over medium-low heat. Whisk in vegetable broth and heat the sauce. Keep warm over low heat.

The rest:
Cook the whole grain penne according to package instructions. Drain.

While the pasta is cooking, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add cauliflower and cook until the cauliflower is tender. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cauliflower from cooking further.

In the same pot, combine the penne and about 3/4 of the cauliflower. Pour in roasted red pepper sauce and toss to coat. Stir in the capers. Set the pot over medium heat and re-heat to serving temperature. Taste and season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Serve, topping each portion with the remaining cauliflower, minced cilantro and grated Parmesan cheese.

The giveaway:
To be entered for a chance to win a $100 Amazon gift card, courtesy of Barilla® and BlogHer, please answer this question in the comment section: “What do you love about Barilla® Whole Grain? “

Sweepstakes/Giveaway Rules:
Please, no duplicate comments. You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
b) Tweet about this promotion @BarillaUS with the following unique term in your message, #BarillaWG, and link to your Tweet in a comment on this post.
c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to your post in a comment on this post
d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected. The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 2/21/12-3/30/12.

Be sure to visit the Barilla® Whole Grain round-up page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!