TL/DR – Pasta with Spinach Herb Sauce! Spinach, parsley, fresh oregano, parmesan, lemon zest, white balsamic. Not a pesto just a really good green sauce. Easy weeknight pasta. –
It is such a wonderful feeling to look out into the garden and realize that there are herbs in abundance. This Spinach Herb Sauce is a great way to use up parsley and oregano. It looks, smells and tastes wonderful on any shape of pasta and with any additional veggies sautéed and added to the mix.
This looks like a pesto, but it doesn’t have any nuts or pine nuts, which makes it smoother and a bit looser. It is a blend of fresh spinach, fresh oregano, fresh parsley, parmesan cheese, lemon zest, white balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. The vinegar is the key to the whole thing.
Use a food processor to create the sauce, which can be made ahead of time, covered tightly and refrigerated for up to 24 hours. When it’s time to cook dinner, simply boil a box of pasta, reserving some of the pasta water, sauté whatever vegetables you have on hand and then toss everything together. So easy. This recipe holds up well for leftovers, but you can also just halve it if you use a smaller food processor.
For an equally easy and delightful vegetarian pasta recipe, try Summer Chunky Marinara.
Pasta with Spinach Herb Sauce
Spinach herb sauce is a bright and tasty vegetarian pasta sauce that works with any shape of noodle and any sautéed vegetables you have on hand.
Ingredients
- 2 c baby spinach leaves, packed
- 1/2 c Italian parsley leaves, packed
- 1/4 c oregano leaves, packed
- 1/2 c grated parmesan cheese
- 6 T extra virgin olive oil
- 2 T white balsamic vinegar
- 1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
- zest of one lemon
- 1/2 t kosher salt
- 1/8 t ground black pepper
- 16 oz pasta
- 3 c thinly sliced vegetables of your choice. Mushrooms, radishes, fennel, zucchini and onions are good options.
Directions
- Step 1 Set a large pot of water to boil on the stove.
- Step 2 Combine the spinach, parsley, oregano, parmesan, olive oil, vinegar, garlic, lemon zest, salt and pepper in a food processor and process until smooth.
- Step 3 Slice the vegetables.
- Step 4 Once the water is boiling, salt it with 1 – 2 T kosher salt, then cook pasta according to package directions. Reserve 1/2 cup of the starchy pasta cooking water before draining.
- Step 5 While the pasta boils, sauté the vegetables in a bit of extra virgin olive oil in a large skillet, about 5 minutes, then turn off the heat.
- Step 6 Once the pasta is drained, toss it into the vegetable skillet along with the spinach herb sauce and if needed, some of the reserved pasta water. Serve immediately with extra grated parmesan as an optional topping.
