I
love spinach! Spinach salad, spinach dip, spinach pizza, give me the spinach! I
need to find my Popeye to marry and we'll have a wonderful marriage filled with
bags of spinach....
The
other week this was the recipe of the week on the WW website. I realized I had
all the ingredients on hand, so I whipped it up. I loved it, but that might be
because I did jazz it up in the end.
Here
ya go spinach lovers.
Spinach
Pesto Pasta
6
pts per serving, 4 servings
1
1/4 tsp table salt, divided, or more to taste
8
oz uncooked whole-wheat pasta, spaghetti or linguine recommended
4
1/2 cup(s) fresh baby spinach
2
Tbsp water
1
1/2 tsp olive oil
2
cloves garlic
2
1/2 Tbsp low fat cream cheese
1
tsp fresh lemon juice, or to taste
Bring
a large pot of salted water to a boil (use 1 teaspoon salt). Add pasta and cook
as package directs.
Meanwhile,
in a food processor, process spinach, water, oil, garlic and remaining 1/4
teaspoon salt until smooth; set aside.
Reserve
1/4 cup pasta cooking water and then drain pasta. Return pasta to pot; add
cream cheese and stir until melted. Add pesto sauce and toss to combine, adding
reserved cooking water if a thinner consistency is desired. Season with fresh
lemon juice and salt, if desired.
Okay, I didn’t need to add the whole ¼ cup of
reserved water, I think I added about half back in the mixture.
What made this recipe PHENOMENAL, was adding feta cheese on top. Reduced fat feta is 2 pts for ¼ cup. Add as your points allow.
Other suggestions of mix-ins; Parmesan cheese (1pt
per tablespoon of regular parm) or cherry tomatoes… Maybe even throw in a chicken breast. I don’t
know. I just know that I LOVED it with feta. Without feta, this couldn’t be a “main”
dish for me. It was too bland; it was be okay as a side dish. With feta, I ate
it for lunch 3 days in a row and didn’t complain one bit, or one bite.
