Green Angel Hair with Garlic Butter
A dinner fit for a romantic evening, a quick weekday fix, or anytime. This easy blend of garlic, butter and spinach produces an outstanding taste, one you'd pay a healthy price for in a restaurant. Use any thin pasta so the sauce will adhere to all the strands rather than pool at the bottom of the bowl. This recipe is reproduced almost exactly from Deb Perelman's third cookbook, Keepers, and you'll keep this in your collection, too.
More delicious pasta options: Lemon Asparagus Pasta, Pasta with Hazelnut Pesto and Parmesan, Zucchini/Summer Squash and Basil Pasta, Pasta with Ricotta Pesto.
Serves: 4
Time: 65 minutes, (15 minutes work)
Ingredients
1/2 cup (4 oz., or 115 grams) salted or unsalted butter, sliced into pieces
Kosher salt
1 large head garlic, halved crossways
1 lb. (450 grams) thin spaghetti (angel hair, capellini, spaghettini or other)
5 - 8 oz. (150-225 grams, or 3 3/4 - 5 cups) fresh spinach
pepper or red pepper flakes
Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese, grated, according to your taste
Method
Preheat an oven to 375 degrees.
Arrange the butter slices across the bottom of a small, 2 cup baking dish. Sprinkle with salt - if using unsalted butter, use 1/2 teaspoon salt, if using salted, use 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cut the garlic head (don't worry about the peels) in half and place it on top of the butter, cut side down.
Cover the dish with foil and bake for 40-50 minutes, until the garlic is soft when poked with a knife and golden brown along the cut side. Carefully remove the foil. Empty the cloves into the butter. Lift the peels out of the butter with tongs, allowing the cloves to fall out. Use the tip of a knife to loosen others.
Scrape any browned bits from the sides of the dish and let them fall into the butter.
Cook the pasta in a pot of boiling, salted water, keeping 1 cup pasta water aside. Keep the drained pasta warm. Keep the pot to reuse.
Put the fresh spinach into a blender or food processor and pour in the garlic and butter. Add 3/4 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper or red pepper flakes to taste. Blend until smooth. Add 1-2 tablespoons of pasta water if necessary. Taste for seasoning.
Pour the spinach sauce into the spaghetti pot and mix well. Add the pasta and a splash of the pasta water. Keep mixing until all the pasta is coated with the sauce. Tossing constantly, cook the pasta and sauce over medium-high heat for two minutes until the sauce thickens and coats all of the pasta. If the pasta sticks to the pot, add more pasta water.
Add more salt and pepper if desired. Serve with grated cheese.
A dinner fit for a romantic evening, a quick weekday fix, or anytime. This easy blend of garlic, butter and spinach produces an outstanding taste, one you'd pay a healthy price for in a restaurant. Use any thin pasta so the sauce will adhere to all the strands rather than pool at the bottom of the bowl. This recipe is reproduced almost exactly from Deb Perelman's third cookbook, Keepers, and you'll keep this in your collection, too.
More delicious pasta options: Lemon Asparagus Pasta, Pasta with Hazelnut Pesto and Parmesan, Zucchini/Summer Squash and Basil Pasta, Pasta with Ricotta Pesto.
Serves: 4
Time: 65 minutes, (15 minutes work)
Ingredients
1/2 cup (4 oz., or 115 grams) salted or unsalted butter, sliced into pieces
Kosher salt
1 large head garlic, halved crossways
1 lb. (450 grams) thin spaghetti (angel hair, capellini, spaghettini or other)
5 - 8 oz. (150-225 grams, or 3 3/4 - 5 cups) fresh spinach
pepper or red pepper flakes
Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese, grated, according to your taste
Method
Preheat an oven to 375 degrees.
Arrange the butter slices across the bottom of a small, 2 cup baking dish. Sprinkle with salt - if using unsalted butter, use 1/2 teaspoon salt, if using salted, use 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cut the garlic head (don't worry about the peels) in half and place it on top of the butter, cut side down.
Cover the dish with foil and bake for 40-50 minutes, until the garlic is soft when poked with a knife and golden brown along the cut side. Carefully remove the foil. Empty the cloves into the butter. Lift the peels out of the butter with tongs, allowing the cloves to fall out. Use the tip of a knife to loosen others.
Scrape any browned bits from the sides of the dish and let them fall into the butter.
Cook the pasta in a pot of boiling, salted water, keeping 1 cup pasta water aside. Keep the drained pasta warm. Keep the pot to reuse.
Put the fresh spinach into a blender or food processor and pour in the garlic and butter. Add 3/4 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper or red pepper flakes to taste. Blend until smooth. Add 1-2 tablespoons of pasta water if necessary. Taste for seasoning.
Pour the spinach sauce into the spaghetti pot and mix well. Add the pasta and a splash of the pasta water. Keep mixing until all the pasta is coated with the sauce. Tossing constantly, cook the pasta and sauce over medium-high heat for two minutes until the sauce thickens and coats all of the pasta. If the pasta sticks to the pot, add more pasta water.
Add more salt and pepper if desired. Serve with grated cheese.