My first Thirty Minute Thursday post! I decided to join the group yesterday. Today I looked in the refrigerator and didn't see much. I have been stuck at home for most of the week because of construction and the larder was quite bare. There was some frozen spinach in the freezer, so I looked up spinach in the index of Giuliano's Hazan's Thirty Minute Pasta and found Penne with Spinach and Ricotta. I had some ricotta left over from the cannelloni I recently made for Cooking Italy - bingo!
A simple recipe - saute diced onion in a little butter, added chopped spinach and cook about 5 minutes. Add the ricotta, a little heavy cream, some nutmeg and S&P. Add spinach sauce to cooked penne, toss with a little parmigiana cheese and enjoy!
Okay, that's how it's supposed to go. I added about twice as much spinach as called for, well, just because we like spinach! As you can see in my photo, no penne, so I had to make do with rotelli pasta. I must also confess, I did not have heavy cream. So as a workable substitute, I made a quick little bechamel, with a pat of butter, a tbs. of flour and 1/2 c. non-fat milk. We never missed the cream and probably won the cholesterol toss up between the pat of butter and the heavy cream.
There you have it, a wonderful meal in about 30 minutes. My husband and I both enjoyed this - he even suggested adding some pignoli nuts next time - great idea!
