A vegetarian-friendly pasta that comes together in 30 minutes.

If you make your own beans, reserve some of the broth to add to this sauce for an extra richness.

Just the Recipe | 4 Servings

Ingredients

1 Onion

4 Cloves of Garlic

1 tsp. Fresh Thyme

3 Tbs. Italian Parsley

½ Cup White Wine

½ Lemon

½ Cup Heavy Cream (Optional)

½ Cup Pecorino Romano

2 Cups Vegetable Stock

1 ½ - 2 Cups White Beans (such as Cannellini)

4 Cups Spinach

1 lb of Twirling-Friendly Noodles (I used Spaghetti)

From the Pantry:

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Kosher Salt

Fresh Ground Black Pepper

1 Bay Leaf

Crushed Red Pepper

For Garnish:

Freshly Grated Parmesan

Chopped Italian Parsley

Stove Top | Dish: Cast Iron Braiser and Pasta Noodle Pot

Steps

Prep the ingredients.
- For the beans:
  - Drain a can of cannellini beans and rinse. A 15 ounce can is 1 ½ cups. If you want more protein, use two cans.
  - If making from dry beans, make ahead. I find it easy to cook in the instant pot (follow your pressure cooker directions). For this recipe I used Alubia Blanca Beans from Rancho Gordo. If you make the beans, be sure to reserve about ½ cup of the bean broth to add to the sauce when you add the beans. I used a generous 2 cups of beans in this recipe.
- Chop the onion into a fine dice. Set aside.
- Finely chop or press the garlic. Finely chop the thyme after removing from the stem. Set aside, together.
- Zest the lemon, set aside (honestly, I just keep the zest on the planer as shown below). You’ll juice the lemon after zesting. If you want to, do ahead. If not, you can juice right into the sauce.
- Loosely chop the parsley and spinach. Set aside, together.
- Prep the garnish by grating parmesan and reserving some chopped parsley.
Make the sauce and noodles.
- Add 2 Tbs. EVOO to the pan you’re using for the sauce (Cast Iron Braiser) and turn heat to medium-high. When hot, add the onion and cook for 3-5 minutes until translucent.
- Add the garlic, fresh thyme and ½ tsp crushed red pepper. Cook for 30 seconds.
- Add the wine and deglaze the pan.
- Add the veggie stock and bay leaf. Reduce heat to medium and let reduce. Salt and pepper to taste.
  - This is a good time to start cooking the noodles. See tip on timing in the tips below. Follow the steps on the pasta box/bag to prepare al dente.
- After about 10 minutes of reducing the sauce, adjust the heat to low. Add the lemon juice. Stir for a turn or two. Then, add the spinach, 2 ½ Tbs. parsley, beans, bean broth (if you made from dry beans). Stir gently to combine. Add the heavy cream.
- Add the pasta and stir gently to combine. Allow the flavors to meld and the pasta to finish cooking for 2 minutes on low. Salt and pepper to taste, again, if needed.
- Add the Pecorino Romano and gently stir.

Use tongs to twirl pasta onto plates. Scoop out any loose beans and sauce and add on top. Garnish with parsley, parmesan, and another grind of salt and pepper to taste.

Pasta Sundays

Pasta Sunday. It’s a thing. And it happens quite often in our home. There’s a joy that comes from making a cozy dish of pasta enjoyed by family on Sunday nights that outweighs any diet or cultural food rules roaming around. To me, making pasta is a moment to pause and commune in my kitchen. Yes, it happens while I’m cooking, but there’s a peace found in preparing the ingredients, coaxing flavor into a sauce, and marrying the sauce and noodles to into one delicious dish.

The creativity and diversity of pasta recipes are seemingly endless. The practice of making a sauce can be learned easily and internalized with practice until it becomes a simple ritual. A ritual you don’t have to second guess or study a recipe to recreate. It is easy to adjust a pasta dish with what is on hand, what is in season, and what you are craving. Pasta can be made: easily with cacio e pepe, zesty with pesto, zesty-spicy with pesto and chilies, tangy with a simple red sauce, hearty with Bolognese, spicy with amatriciana, rich with carbonara, or vegetarian with beans and greens as I do in this recipe.

The work week is complicated, busy and challenging. Making pasta is simple, deliberate, and rewarding. Serving a plate of pasta on Sunday night has become a way I reset for the week. It is also how I love on my people with food and remind myself not to get caught up in the business of my to-do lists. Dare I say that it’s even a bit therapeutic? For more pasta ideas and recipes, be sure to follow me on Instagram. If it is a Pasta Sunday, you’ll see it in my stories! If you also enjoy Pasta Sunday, let me know.

Kitchen Acumen Tips:

You can use almost any long, swirly noodle in this recipe. You’ll finish it in the sauce so you want it to be al dente when you move it from the noodle pot to the sauce pan. I used spaghetti (it was in the pantry - always shop the pantry first!) but I also would have used bucatini, fettuccine, or linguine. You want a noodle you can twirl that isn’t too delicate. Angel hair or pappardelle aren’t ideal.
If juicing the lemon into the sauce, use your hand to catch any seeds. We’ve all seen Giada do this on the Food Network, right? Seeds are bitter and have an unpleasant texture so don’t let them sneak into your sauce.
Timing is key when it comes to making great pasta. But it’s not too hard to figure out. Basically, you want to add the noodles al dente to the sauce right as it is finishing. Use tongs to move them from one pan to another. They can be dripping, the starchy noodle water can make the sauce even better. The last two minutes the noodles need to cook and the pasta needs to simmer should be done together, in the sauce pan. This means a few things. First, use a large pot to make the sauce. Second, keep track of how the sauce is progressing so that the noodles are cooking while the sauce is in the last 5-10 minutes of simmering (depending on the length of time the noodles need to cook). And lastly, you may want to start the pasta noodle water way early so it’s ready and boiling when you need it. Finishing the pasta in the sauce is honestly the trick to making great pasta. Once you master timing you’ll realize why it’s a great idea to prep all the ingredient and set them aside before you start cooking. A recipe like this comes together quickly. The hardest part is learning when to get the noodles cooking so they’re ready to finish in the sauce.
Salt the noodle water well. Most of the salt will be dumped out and the flavor it will impart to the noodles is very important.
Really any smaller white bean should work. This isn’t a recipe for Lima beans. If you cook dry beans be sure to add some flavor to the cooking water. Typically I use an onion that is peeled and halved, salt, ground pepper, a few cloves of whole garlic and a bay leaf as a base and then adjust other flavors based on how I intend to use them. Check out the Black Bean post for more on making dry beans in the Instant Pot. Most pressure cookers have a guide for how long to cook various types of beans. Follow those guidelines based on the beans you chose.
I’m saying goodbye to Food Rules in 2020. Are you hung up on food rules about carbs, cheese, and GI indexes? Check out The Lazy Genius’ thoughts on Food Rules (she shares a lot of great resources!) and Body Image. I’ve been shedding cultural food and diet rules over the last year and it’s made room for so much more joy in my life.
If you have dietary restrictions (different than cultural food rules) you can lose the dairy in this recipe. Add some extra lemon zest to finish the dish instead of grated parmesan.