Pasta with Spinach
#MeatlessMonday
Why Meatless Monday?
- Meatless Monday is of utmost importance, especially in the United States, as we consume much more animal products than the rest of the world.
- The meat industry uses vast amounts of our finite fossil fuels and water and lots of grain to feed livestock, which is extremely inefficient. Why not use those resources to feed people more directly?
- About 1,850 gallons of water is needed to produce a singular pound of beef, comparable to only 39 gallons of water per pound of vegetables. A vegetarian diet alone could dramatically reduce water consumption by 58% per person!
- Meat production also is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, which has proven to correlate to the climate change crisis.
- Some benefits of eating plant-based once a week include:
- Save 133 gallons of water with each meatless meal!
- Reduce your carbon footprint by 8 pounds each Meatless Monday you participate in
- If you commit to participating in Meatless Monday every Monday, that is equivalent to skipping one serving of beef for a year, would save the same amount of emissions as driving 348 miles in a car.
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
This simple pasta with spinach is fast, easy and delicious. It’s ready in less than 15 minutes and makes a weeknight meal the whole family will love: creamy, packed with spinach, and convenient. Recipe yields 4 medium-sized servings.
Ingredients
Pasta
- 8oz (225 grams) pasta (penne, rigatoni, spaghetti…)
Spinach Sauce
- 1 Tbsp olive oil or extra virgin olive oil, plus more to serve
- 2-3 garlic cloves, finely sliced or minced
- 9oz (250 grams) baby spinach, washed
- ¼ tsp fine salt, plus more to taste
- 5oz (140 grams) cream cheese
- 1oz (30 grams) freshly grated parmesan cheese, plus more to serve
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg, or ⅓ of freshly grated nutmeg, or according to taste
- black pepper, to taste
Cooking Instructions
- Cook your pasta until al dente following the package directions. Before draining, reserve at least 1/2 cup of pasta cooking water and set aside.
- Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
- Add garlic and cook for about 1 or 2 minutes until fragrant (make sure you don’t burn it).
- Add part of the spinach and season with salt. Stir until wilted adding handful of spinach at a time.
- When the spinach are wilted but still bright green, stir in cream cheese and 1/3 cup of pasta cooking water (don’t add all the reserved water straight away, but save the rest in case you need to loosen the sauce when you add pasta to the skillet).
- Then add grated parmesan cheese and nutmet to the sauce and give a good stir. The sauce will be ready in a couple of minutes.
- Drain pasta, add to the skillet and toss to combine. Serve immediately ¼with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, black pepper and freshly grated parmesan cheese. Enjoy.
Notes
SEASONING: I find that 1/4 tsp of salt is fine for the sauce. Both cooking pasta water and parmesan cheese contain salt, so you’re not supposed to add any salt to the spinach sauce. However, before adding pasta, taste and make sure you’re happy with the seasoning.
LEFTOVERS: it keeps well for a couple of days in the fridge, stored in an air-tight container. Add a tiny splash of water to loosen up the sauce if needed and reheat it on the stove or in the microwave.
NOTE: nutritional values are estimates only.
Nutrition
- Calories: 544kcal
- Carbohydrates: 62g
- Protein: 19g
- Fat: 25g
- Saturated Fat: 12g
- Cholesterol: 60mg
- Sodium: 567mg
- Potassium: 709mg
- Fiber: 4g
- Sugar: 4g
- Vitamin A: 8527IU
- Vitamin C: 24mg
- Calcium: 259mg
- Iron: 4mg
If you have a recipe you would like to share with us for #meatlessmondays, please email christian.bearden100@gmail.com.
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Katia. (2021, March 28). Pasta with spinach, Easy & Quick! The clever meal. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
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