Creamy Farfalle Pasta with Spinach, Mushrooms, and Caramelized Onions. This simple meatless Italian dinner is pure comfort food! The bow-tie shaped pasta is perfectly matched with rich and buttery Parmesan sauce!
Farfalle - Bow Tie Pasta
- Farfalle pasta is meant to be used with creamy sauces, such as with chicken broccoli alfredo (with or without chicken) or with this creamy four-cheese pasta sauce. In fact, this farfalle recipe was inspired by another family favorite that features a rich creamy pasta sauce: spinach mushroom pasta.
- Farfalle works great both in meatless recipes and in dishes with meat. This particular recipe is meatless. However, you can easily add any kind of meat or seafood. Add easy seared chicken or grilled chicken to this creamy bow tie pasta. Who doesn't like creamy pasta, especially if you add some chicken to it? It's a perfect dish to make for a family weeknight dinner.
- If you enjoy seafood, add seared scallops with bacon or trout with garlic lemon butter sauce.
Farfalle: Italian Pasta
This Italian-inspired recipe features bow-tie shaped pasta smothered with easy cream sauce along with vegetables and mushrooms. You'll love this simple comfort food on a plate.
- Simple ingredients. This recipe requires basic ingredients that you can buy pretty much at any store: bow-tie pasta, spinach, mushrooms, onions, garlic, cream, and Parmesan cheese.
- Packed with veggies. This meatless farfalle recipe uses spinach and caramelized onions. It's a great and delicious way to incorporate more vegetables into your dinners.
- Caramelized onions add so much flavor and sophistication to this dish!
- Weeknight dinner recipe. This easy recipe is perfect for those busy weeknights when you don't have much time for cooking. It's also a great recipe to use any leftover chicken. Just throw in some leftover cooked chicken together with creamy farfalle pasta, and you have a perfect family dinner!
- Flexible recipe. What I love about this creamy bow-tie pasta is that you can serve it as is, without meat! Or, you can add protein, if you like. Serve farfalle with grilled steak, grilled chicken, or fish.
What is farfalle?
- Farfalle is a bow-tie shaped Italian pasta. Farfalle pasta can also be described as butterfly-shaped pasta. In fact, "farfalle" means "butterflies" in Italian.
- Farfalle dates back to the 16th century in Lombardia and Emilia-Romagna Regions in Northern Italy.
- Farfalle is often used with cream sauces and in tomato-based sauces. It's also popular in salads.
Substitutions
- What can you use instead of farfalle? You can substitute penne, rigatoni, fusilli, or orecchiette for farfalle without affecting the flavor.
- What can you substitute for spinach? You can use kale, Swiss chard, or arugula instead of spinach.
- What kind of mushrooms can you use? Use button mushrooms, cremini mushrooms, portobello, shiitake, or oyster mushrooms.
- How to make this recipe gluten-free? Use gluten-free farfalle or other types of gluten-free pasta.
- What can you use instead of half-and-half? Use ½ cup of heavy cream + ½ cup of milk instead of 1 cup of half-and-half.
Cooking Tips
- Make-ahead tip. Make caramelized onions ahead of time, refrigerate them in an air-tight container, and use within the next 3 days. You can also freeze caramelized onions for up to 2 months and thaw them whenever you need them.
- If the creamy Parmesan sauce is too thick, slowly add a small amount of half-and-half to thin it out. Make sure the sauce continues to simmer and does not come to a standstill, while you add half-and-half to thin it out.
- If the creamy Parmesan sauce is too thin, add a small amount of shredded Parmesan cheese, and stir it in, while the sauce simmers.
How long do you cook farfalle?
- Usually, farfalle is cooked in a pot of boiling water for 10 minutes.
- To prepare farfalle al dente, cook farfalle for 8 minutes, or for 2 minutes less than indicated on the package instructions.
How to make farfalle pasta
- First, caramelize onions for 30 minutes to reach a nice deep brown color. (See: how to caramelize onions). This step can be made ahead. Make caramelized onions a day or two in advance and keep them refrigerated in an airtight container.
- Next, cook the mushrooms in 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
- Then, add spinach to cooked mushrooms and stir until spinach wilts.
- Next, make the creamy pasta sauce. Add half-and-half and shredded Parmesan cheese to the skillet with spinach and mushrooms. Stir, while the sauce simmers, until the cheese melts.
- Add caramelized onions to the skillet.
- Add cooked and drained farfalle pasta to the skillet with the pasta sauce and reheat on low heat for a couple of minutes.
Side dishes
- Bread. Serve garlic bread or baguette with creamy farfalle pasta.
- Green Salad. Make a basic green salad, such as spinach or arugula salad. Use a simple dressing made with olive oil, coarsely ground black pepper, and shredded Parmesan cheese.
- Fresh salad. Make this tomato cucumber avocado salad or tomato mozzarella salad.
Other pasta recipes
- Linguine with Spinach and Sun-Dried Tomato Sauce
- Fusilli Pasta with Spinach, Artichokes, Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Pine Nuts
- Mushroom Ravioli with Spinach
Farfalle Pasta with Spinach, Mushrooms, and Caramelized Onions
Ingredients
Caramelized onions
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 yellow onions , large, sliced
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Creamy pasta sauce
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 10 oz mushrooms , sliced (I used button mushrooms)
- 6 oz spinach
- 1 cup half-and-half
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese , shredded
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Pasta
- 8 oz farfalle pasta
Instructions
How to caramelize onions:
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil on medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add sliced onions and cook on high heat for about 10 minutes, constantly stirring with the spatula.
- The onions should start to brown, but without burning.
- Reduce heat to medium and continue cooking onions for 10 more minutes, continuing to stir, as onions brown even more without burning. At this point add a pinch of salt over onions.
- Continue cooking for 10 more minutes on medium or low heat, stirring occasionally to make sure onions don’t stick to the bottom of the pan or burn.
- In total, you should have cooked onions for 30 minutes.
- Remove the skillet from heat and sprinkle the onions with a small amount of balsamic vinegar to deglaze the pan.
- Using a spatula, stir the onions, scraping the bottom of the pan and coating onions with a pinch of balsamic vinegar you just added. Remove caramelized onions to a plate.
How to cook mushrooms and spinach:
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in the same skillet on medium heat. Add sliced mushrooms. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt.
- Cook mushrooms for about 5 minutes, occasionally stirring, until mushrooms are soft.
- Add fresh spinach to the skillet and stir on low heat just until spinach starts to wilt.
How to make creamy pasta sauce:
- Add half-and-half to the mushroom and spinach mixture and bring to a quick boil. Immediately reduce to simmer.
- Add ⅔ cup of shredded Parmesan cheese and ¼ teaspoon salt. Keep stirring while the sauce simmers until the cheese melts.
- Add caramelized onions back to the skillet with the pasta sauce.
Cook pasta:
- Cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain.
- Add cooked and drained farfalle pasta to the creamy sauce. Stir on low heat for a couple of minutes to reheat.
- If the sauce is too thick, add a small amount of half-and-half to thin it out. If it is too thin, add a small amount of shredded Parmesan cheese, and stir it in, while the sauce simmers.
- Serve with more shredded parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer:
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Donna
Ohmygoodgolly! This was so delicious! My picky eater even enjoyed it.
Julia
Donna, I am so happy everyone enjoyed this! 🙂 Thank you for the comment and the 5-stars! 🙂
Krista cooper
Excellent!! I added sausage and it was amazing.
Julia
Krista, sausage is so good with this!
Kristen
This is one mine and my fiancé's favorite pasta recipes, it's SO good! Caramelizing onions does take some time so I usually save this dish for the weekends when I have more time. Very flavorful, great comfort food!
Julia
Kristen, I am so happy to hear this is one of your favorite dishes - it's a huge compliment to me! Thank you for sharing such a positive comment! 🙂
Rachel
I won't make it again, I thought it lacked flavor and needed more seasoning! I also doubled sauce and it was still dry. Also, you had balsamic vinegar, on ingredients, but didn't say when to add it, I was confused, so I added at the end, I used 6 Tbs
Rachel
Julia
Rachel, balsamic vinegar is added as a final touch to caramelized onion - it's in the recipe.
You can spice it up by adding your favorite seasoning, and some heat (red pepper flakes or Cayenne pepper). Or, spicy Italian sausage.
Theta
I really enjoyed this dish. It was quick and easy and enough flavor with the Carmel used onions. Thanks for sharing.
Julia
You are very welcome! Thank YOU for such a positive comment and the 5-star review! 🙂
BarbaraC
This was terrible. Took a long time to make but it was not to my liking
Joy
This was so good! I added spicy sausage and doubled the pasta. Everyone had seconds and we had leftovers!
I'm sure it still would've been great vegetarian style too. This is a definite repeat!!
Julia
Joy, so glad you enjoyed this. Love the addition of sausage - sounds so good!
Nope
Either you did it wrong, or your taste buds are broken
Andi
This is one of my very favorite vegetarian pasta dishes. So rich and filling. If you are trying to keep it healthy, this is a great sauce for whole grain and alternative pastas. Very earthy and flavorful.
Julia
Andi, I love your feedback! So glad it's one of your favorite pasta dishes. 🙂
Genny
Made this one for a friend who is newly vegetarian and it was a hit with the family as well. First time I’ve ever truly caramelized onions, usually I end up with a burnt mess. Your directions were awesome, THANK YOU. Paired it with a garden salad and lots of good conversation. Next time I may add a little sautéed garlic towards the end when doing the sauce. The best part is we have left overs for tomorrow that will go with some chicken I need to use up so two dinners with minimal fuss.
Julia
Genny, I am so flattered by your comment! So happy the recipe turned out well. And, thank you for taking the time to share this positive feedback - it's really important for food bloggers to see comments like these! 🙂
Colleen
I made this vegan with canned coconut milk and df mozzarella and nutritional yeast and it was absolutely delicious! Super rich and I loved the hint of balsamic from the caramelized onions. I also topped mine with some toasted pumpkin seeds. I'll definitely be making this often. Thanks for the great recipe 🙂
Julia
Colleen, THANK YOU for such a positive comment. Glad the recipe turned out well and that you love it! 🙂 Also, thank you for sharing the changes you made to make it vegan. Love the addition of toasted pumpkin seeds on top! 🙂
Lindsey
Really loved this recipe. The caramelized onion was such a game changer for us; to get that depth of flavor punch we miss out on a lot being vegetarians. I added tomatoes from our garden and it was an excellent addition! Thank you for sharing!
Linda
I thought it was good. Easy to follow. Was simple
Julia
Linda, I am glad you liked this recipe! Thanks taking the time to share your review!
Julia
Lindsey, your comment really made my day! So glad you enjoyed all the flavors in this dish! Adding tomatoes sounds delicious! And, thank you for the 5-star rating! 🙂
Gina
This was delicious We didn’t expect it to be so flavorful. Absolutely will have this again. Tried it to use up the mushrooms and spinach in the frig. So glad I did!
Julia
Gina, I am glad this recipe exceeded your expectations! Thank you for stopping by and sharing such a positive comment!
Lisa
Love this recipe! Very simple made with simple, common ingredients. A burst of flavor from the carmelized onions. A keeper!
Julia
Lisa, I am so glad you love this recipe! Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback! 🙂
Diane
This was the best, I made this as Side dish with eggplant Parmesan, my husband went crazy totally loved it, I will totally share this recipe with my friends and family and make it again and again just loved it♥️♥️
Julia
Diane, I am so flattered by your comment! I know a lot of people might like the recipe but don't have the time to comment, but when I see glowing reviews like yours - they really make my day! 🙂
lolly
Very tasty. Followed recipe except I added a little crushed red pepper.
Julia
So glad the recipe was enjoyed! 🙂
Islndgrl
I loved the taste. But making the sauce in w the mushrooms and spinach did not bode well for me. The cheese did not melt well and veggies were clumped together. Not sure what I did wrong. The next time i make this I will make the sauce separately from the veggies. Otherwise the taste was amazing.
Julia
Glad you liked the flavor! When making the sauce, be sure to bring the cream to a boil then reduce it to a visible simmer - before adding the cheese.
Julie
This is by far the best and creamiest pasta I have ever made. I added zucchini because I had one I needed to use and Italian seasonings. So easy and so delicious. Left out the balsamic as I don’t care for it. Thank you for this wonderful recipe
Julia
Julie, you are very welcome! Thank you for taking the time to share this positive feedback! By the way, the addition of zucchini sounds wonderful!