Penne Brown Rice Pasta

Who loves brown rice pasta? It is one of my new faves! It is just as good as a white pasta, but way better for you! I love whole wheat pasta too, but brown rice pasta is close to tying for my favorite. You can purchase brown rice pasta at a lot of different stores, I have purchased it at Trader Joe’s, Sprouts, Whole Foods, etc. One of my favorite stores to shop at is Trader Joe’s (aka TJ’s) and that is where I bought the brown rice pasta and the vodka tomato sauce I used in this recipe. The dish comes together quickly and if you use the whole 16 oz. bag of pasta then you can feed about 6 people or possibly more. I had my mom over for dinner with my husband and we had a lot leftover.

Ingredients
One 16oz bag of penne brown rice pasta (or your favorite pasta)
1 can of organic diced tomatoes
1 jar of your favorite tomato sauce – I used a 25 oz jar of organic vodka sauce from TJ’s
2 to 3 tablespoons of EVOO for sauteing
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 yellow bell pepper
1/2 orange bell pepper
2 tsp of fresh rosemary
2 tsp of fresh thyme
Salt and Pepper to taste

Recipe
In a separate pot bring about 3 cups of water to a boil – add a little salt to the water. Once it comes to a boil add the bag of brown rice pasta.  Stir the pasta to ensure the pasta doesn’t stick together. The pasta will take about 5 to 8 minutes to cook, be sure not to over cook the pasta.

Next, cut the three bell peppers in half and dice into small bit size cubes. Add the bell peppers to a pan, drizzled with EVOO and saute for 3 to 4 minutes on high heat. Add the freshly chopped thyme and rosemary to the pan of bell peppers. Once pasta is cooked through- drain the pasta and rinse with cold water. Poor the pasta back into the pot, add the bell peppers to the pasta, the can of diced tomatoes, and the vodka pasta sauce. Cook on medium heat for 2 to 4 minutes. Add slat and pepper to taste.  Poor the cooked pasta dish into a serving bowl and add a sprig of fresh mint to the top for decoration. Enjoy!