Fastest Pasta With Spinach Sauce

Name: Fastest Pasta With Spinach Sauce
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 3 to 4 servings
Cuisine: italian
Ingredients: 1 clove garlic; 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste (optional); About 15 calamata or other olives, pitted and roughly chopped; 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil; 1 pound long pasta, like linguine; 1 pound spinach, washed, tough stems removed, roughly chopped; Salt and freshly ground black pepper

By Mark Bittman

Total Time: 25 minutes
Rating: 5(1,656)
Comments: Read comments

The very best pasta is often the simplest. Jack Bishop, the author of “The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook,” has refined his technique for pasta and vegetable sauce to breathtaking efficiency: He cooks the greens with the pasta and adds the seasonings at the last minute. While the pasta is cooking, Mr. Bishop prepares the seasonings.

Allow at least a gallon of water to a pound of pasta, because you need a large pot to accommodate the greens and because, if there is too little water, the addition of the greens will slow the cooking too rapidly.

Featured in: The Minimalist; The Last Word In Easy Pasta

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Ingredients

Yield:3 to 4 servings

1clove garlic
½teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste (optional)
About 15 calamata or other olives, pitted and roughly chopped
¼cup plus 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1pound long pasta, like linguine
1pound spinach, washed, tough stems removed, roughly chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

Step 1
Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and salt it. Meanwhile, mince the garlic as finely as possible and combine it in the bottom of a warm bowl with the red pepper flakes, olives and olive oil.
Step 2
Place the pasta in the pot, and cook until it is nearly done (test it for doneness by tasting). Plunge the spinach into the water, and cook until it wilts, less than a minute. Drain quickly, allowing some water to cling to the pasta, and toss pasta and spinach in the bowl with the garlic and olive mixture. Season with salt and pepper, and serve.

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Ratings

5 out of 5

1,656 user ratings

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Comments

Maria9 years ago

I dislike glops of spinach in any recipe. Instead chop spinach a la Chiffonade: roll several leaves together to make a cigar-like form and cut across the width. You'll get lovely green ribbons.

Sara9 years ago

I find that it needs a little something more, so I usually add a little lemon juice to the olive oil/olive mix, then serve with freshly-grated parmesan. The acid from the lemon juice brightens the whole dish.

ALSinDC7 years ago

This is yummy. A slight variation: just heap all the spinach into a colander. Then drain the pasta on top of it. The result is bright green spinach, perfectly wilted.

L. Huggler15 days ago

In the NYT article, Jack Bishop recommends that the olive oil used should be ''The best you can lay your hands on''. I absolutely agree. Using a really superior olive oil transforms the dish to something made for gods.

Manette24 days ago

Followed the recipe for "Fastest Pasta with Spinach Sauce", with the addition of a few capers, a squirt of lemon and plenty of fresh parmesan finely shredded over the top. It was good, three stars. Would have to think about what to add should I go for it again. Burrata on top would do wonders!

JonP29 days ago

I have been making this recipe for years. My main tips are to up the amount of garlic quite a bit (like 5-6 cloves) and be heavyhanded with both the crushed red pepper and Parmesan at the table.

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