Healthyish, Recipes

Pasta in Creamy Spinach and Cheese Sauce with Bacon Bits

Give your pasta a healthy twist with an iron-rich spinach sauce. Quick and easy to make, all you need is a great blender and voila a versatile sauce is ready. Make extra sauce and store in a jar and refrigerate. It works wonders – spread it on toast and eggs or for a quick pasta whip-up on those lazy cooking days. You can also add any veggies (mushrooms go very well) or meat (bacon bits, chicken thigh) or seafood (prawns, squid) of your choice.

Ingredients

  • 1 Bunch Spinach
  • 1 Medium Size Onion (Preferably White Onions)
  • 8-10 Garlic Cloves
  • 1 Bay Leaf
  • 1 Cup Cooking Cream (Fresh or Store Bought)
  • 2-3 Teaspoon Oil (Preferably Olive Oil)
  • Cheese (Any Cheese of Your Choice, I Use Amul Cheese Spread Or Cubes and It Works Wonders)
  • 1 Pinch Ground Pepper
  • Salt (As Per Taste)
  • Oregano & Chili Flakes
  • Pasta (Any of Your Choice, I Used A Durum Wheat + Semolina Delmonte Penne Pasta)
  • Bacon

Preparation

Prep: 15 minutes
Cooking: 30 minutes

  1. Pre-prep (step 1,2,3,4 & 5)
  2. Wash and thoroughly clean the spinach and sautee/steam it with 2-3 cloves of garlic. Do not discard the stems. They are completely edible. Make a puree and keep it aside for later use.
  3. Fine dice the onion and roughly chop the peeled garlic cloves and keep it aside.
  4. Fry bacon slices in a pan and cut into bits if you like and keep aside.
  5. Follow the instructions on the packet to boil your pasta or in a deep pot, bring water to a boil, add 1 tablespoon salt and 3 tablespoons oil (any cooking oil will do or olive oil). Add the pasta only once the water is bubbling hot. Give it a gentle stir. Cook for 8- 11 minutes depending on your preference. (I like it al-dente so 8 minutes works for me).
  6. Keep 1 cup of pasta water for reducing the sauce later. Drain the water and let the pasta sit in the colander. Do not wash under running tap water.
  7. In a wide, slightly deep bottomed pan (so you can easily mix the cooked pasta in the same pan) heat oil (you can use the bacon oil as well for extra flavour).
  8. Add bay leaf, finely diced onions, roughly chopped garlic and cook until the onions are pink in colour. Do not brown the onions.
  9. Now add the spinach puree, salt, pepper, oregano, chilli flakes, pepper powder and mix well and bring it to a gentle simmer on a low flame (remember the spinach is already pre-cooked so we don’t need to cook it too much).
  10. Next add the cooking cream (I used Amul cooking cream), cheese (I used 3 tablespoon Amul cheese spread and 1 Amul cheese cube grated but go ahead and use any cheese of your choice-parmigiano, cheddar, blue cheese, pecorino, smoked gouda).
  11. Stir gently and bring to a simmer on a low flame. Your sauce is ready. garnish it with fresh herbs or more cheese.
  12. Adjust the seasoning as per your liking. Add cooked pasta and gently mix it with the sauce. You don’t want to smash or break the pasta using force.

Watch
Kanika Dave

Born in Bombay to a beautiful Punjabi mother and a half-Gujarati-half-Mangalorean handsome father, I am a complete mix of both cultures by heart. My Nutritionist-dietician-weight trainer mother will always be my biggest food inspiration. Observing her since childhood and shadowing her every move in the kitchen, watching her chop, taking in the aromas and feeing the love with which she cooked has always been a treat. How she makes everyday simple food taste so delicious will always be a mystery to me. A special mention to my dear friend Oskari whom I met 11 years ago in Goa and fell in love instantly. He is European and came from a contrasting food background. Watching him move around swiftly in the kitchen has always been my favourite thing. I have been lucky to spend quality time with his mother Hanni who is a wonderful cook and runs one of the most beautiful resorts in Zanzibar. Through them, I learned a lot about world food.