Recipe Background
Trending Pasta is distinguished by spinach-infused noodles and a nostalgic garlic-butter sauce.
The tale of this Trending Pasta traces back to a little corner bistro in Florence during my study abroad semester. It was one sun-drenched afternoon when I found myself fumbling over words and textbooks in Italian, desperately trying to fit in while battling homesickness. A kind chef, seeing my plight, whisked me into the kitchen, placed a cup of flour and a container of baby spinach in front of me, and encouraged me to create. Not in exact words, but with the universal language of food gestures. It was here that I learned the magic of transforming simple ingredients into a comforting meal. Garlic cloves sat nearby, ready to be minced into fragrant submission. I could have sworn the smell of warm olive oil mingled with earthy spinach would linger in my memories forever.
Back home, in my tiny apartment kitchen, I recreated this moment many times, flour dust clouding the air and red pepper flakes offering a spicy reminder of Italian warmth. I’d roll the dough into spaghetti shapes while regaling friends with stories of botched Italian conversations and buttery garlic sauce that tasted like redemption. One day, during a particularly nostalgic dinner prep session, I discovered the trick of saving a splash of the pasta water. Adding it to the skillet creates a silky liaison between the noodles and the garlic-butter sauce, bringing everything together with a masterful bow.
Adding freshly grated parmesan at the end makes me think of those afternoons spent under the Florentine sun. Every bite of this pasta serves up whispers of the past and dreams of many meals yet to be shared.
Ingredients
For the spinach pasta:
- 1 (5-ounce) container baby spinach
- 1 cup flour plus more, to taste, for dusting a work surface
- 1/3 cup olive oil
For the garlic-butter sauce:
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
- red pepper flakes to taste
- parmesan cheese to taste, grated, for serving
Directions
- In a food processor or blender, add the spinach and 1 cup of the flour and pulse until the spinach is broken down.
- Slowly pour the olive oil into the spinach flour mixture, while pulsing, until a dough forms and it is sticking together.
- Use the extra flour to dust a work surface.
- Transfer the dough to the prepared work surface.
- Pull off gumball-sized pieces from the dough and use your hands to roll each of them into spaghetti-shaped noodles.
- In a large pot of salted, boiling water, add the spinach noodles and cook until they float to the top of the pot, about 1 minute 30 seconds.
- Reserve 1/2 cup of the water from the pot and drain the rest. Keep the spinach noodles warm.
- In a skillet over medium heat, melt the butter.
- Add the garlic to the melted butter and cook until it is fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Add the reserved water, 1/4 cup at a time, to the garlic-butter mixture and cook, stirring occasionally, until it is warm and combined.
- Season the garlic-butter sauce with the salt, the pepper, and the red pepper flakes and stir to combine.
- Add the cooked spinach noodles to the garlic-butter sauce and stir to coat.
- Serve the spinach noodles sprinkled with the parmesan.
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