Noodles & Co. Pasta Fresca and Shrimp copycat recipe

I dunno about you, but I LOVE Noodles and Company. My two favorite dishes there are pesto cavatappi with parmesan crusted chicken and pasta fresca with shrimp. I've already figured out how to re-create the pesto cavatappi (haven't figured out the chicken part), so when I saw a copycat recipe on Pinterest for Pasta Fresca, I knew I had to try it!

This isn't 100% spot on, but it's pretty darn close!

What You Need:

-1 lb shrimp, thawed if frozen
-3/4 lb farfalle pasta
-2 tomatoes, diced
-2 handfuls of baby spinach
-2 teaspoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon olive oil
-1/2 red onion, diced
-salt/pepper
-1/4 balsamic vinegar
-1/4 sweet white wine
-1/2 cup olive oil
-3 tsp minced garlic, divided (from jar)
-parmesan cheese

What You Do:

1. Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain.

2. Make the fresca sauce by combining the 1/2 cup olive oil, white wine, balsamic vinegar, 2  teaspoons of minced garlic, and 2 teaspoons of salt. Mix until combined. (You will need to mix it again right before adding, as the oil and vinegar will separate).

3. In a medium skillet, heat the tablespoon of olive oil. Add 1 tsp garlic and heat until fragrant (about a minute). Add in the shrimp and cook through (about 4 minutes).

4. When the pasta is done cooking, heat the skillet and add in the 2 teaspoons of olive oil, farfalle pasta (cooked), tomatoes, red onion, spinach and salt and pepper.

5. Stir together until hot and well mixed. Add the shrimp and the fresca sauce. Mix to combine.

6. Top with parmesan cheese (shredded would be better than grated, but grated works, too).

You may need to add a bit more balsamic to the mix for that extra taste. I added some extra to ours.

It was really good! MG wolfed it down and enjoyed the leftovers for lunch the next day.

Enjoy!