Creamy Tomato Spinach Pasta
This creamy one pot pasta is rich, comforting and ridiculously easy to make. Perfect for busy weeknights when you want a dinner that's genuinely worth making.
Servings: 4
Equipment
- Sharp Knife & Chopping Board
- Large Pot & Wooden Spoon
- Jug (for stock)
- Fine Cheese Grater
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp Sun Dried Tomato Oil, from a jar of sun dried tomatoes (sub olive oil)
- 1 medium White Onion, finely diced
- 3 cloves of Garlic, minced/finely diced
- 1 cup / 125g Sun Dried Tomatoes, finely diced
- 1/3 cup / 3oz / 85g Tomato Paste (Tomato Puree in UK)
- 4 cups / 1 litre Chicken Stock
- 1 cup / 240ml Double/Heavy Cream, at room temp
- 14oz / 400g uncooked Penne, or other short-cut pasta
- 1/4 - 1/2 tsp Chilli Flakes, or to preference
- 1 small bunch of Fresh Basil, finely diced (typically ~1oz/30g)
- 4oz / 120g Baby Spinach
- 1/2 cup / 40g freshly grated Parmesan, plus more to serve if desired
- Salt & Black Pepper, as needed
Instructions
- Place a large, deep pot over medium heat and add the oil. One hot, add the onion and fry until soft and golden. Add the sun dried tomatoes and garlic and fry for a further minute or so.
- Add the tomato paste and fry for a couple of minutes, then add the stock and use your wooden spoon to scrape the base of the pan to deglaze if needed. Stir in the cream until blended, then add the chilli flakes, alongside a generous pinch of salt and pepper (can adjust this later).
- Stir in the uncooked pasta and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook until the pasta is mostly cooked through and the sauce has mostly thickened, stirring fairly frequently to ensure the pasta doesn't stick. Stir in the spinach and basil until the spinach begins to wilt, then stir in the parmesan until it blends through the sauce. At this point the pasta should be perfectly al dente and the sauce thickened and no longer watery. If at any point the sauce over thickens before the pasta cooks, just add in more stock (or even hot water) as needed.
- Check for seasoning and adjust if needed (make sure it's properly seasoned) then serve up with extra parmesan if desired. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
a) Cream - I recommend leaving the cream on the side as you work your way through the recipe, just so it can come close to room temp before you use it. Adding fridge-cold cream to hot liquid can sometimes cause it to curdle.
b) Consistency - You should have the perfect amount of liquid to cook the pasta through and be left with a thick, creamy sauce that clings to the pasta. If the pasta is still hard with the sauce soaked up, just add in a splash more stock (or hot water) as needed until it cooks through and you're left with a creamy sauce.
c) Calories - One portion with no extra parmesan (1/4 of whole recipe).
Nutrition
Calories: 716kcal | Carbohydrates: 98.04g | Protein: 16.32g | Fat: 31.6g | Saturated Fat: 16.49g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2.511g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10.339g | Trans Fat: 0.111g | Cholesterol: 92mg | Sodium: 321mg | Potassium: 1253mg | Fiber: 14.6g | Sugar: 10.69g | Vitamin A: 4351IU | Vitamin C: 21.4mg | Calcium: 213mg | Iron: 3.8mg