INGREDIENTS:
1/2 pound fusilli (or rotini or bow-tie pasta)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 10-ounce box frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed of excess moisture
2 scallions, thinly sliced (1/3 cup)
1 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup whole or part-skim ricotta
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts (optional)
note: it might be easier to double the recipe so you don't have leftover pasta or ricotta
DIRECTIONS:
Cook the pasta according to the label directions. Drain and return to pot. Add the olive oil, spinach, scallions, raisins, and basil and toss to combine. Season to taste with the salt and pepper. In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta and balsamic vinegar; stir. Add to the pasta mixture and toss lightly. Top with the Parmesan and pine nuts (if desired). Note: This is best served at room temperature. If you are serving it right away, try to let it rest for at least 10 minutes to let the flavors develop and meld.
selected by Amy Green
6 comments:
Delicious!!! Amy, I don't know if you made this up or borrowed it, but we devoured this scrumptious, fast, easy weeknight dinner. (We might not have even waited the recommended 10 minutes.)
I was a little concerned that the raisins would make this dish too sweet, like a kugel or lokshen & cheese. (If anyone else's grandma cooked noodles with cottage cheese, sugar, and raisins, you'll know what I'm talking about.) Jeremy also has this weird rule about not mixing sweet and savory foods, so he was freaked out by them, but for no reason. The raisins actually added a surprising punch of flavor and texture, and we loved them...the whole effect reminded us of Sicilian or Spanish spinach we had tried.
We followed Amy's advice to double the recipe, adding extra pine nuts, basil, and Parm straight to the ricotta. (I heart cheese.) We didn't use scallions but added garlic and hot pepper flakes, which really offered a pleasing counterpoint to the other ingredients. We also used fresh spinach, so no squeezing was necessary.
Instead of mixing everything in the pasta pot, we mixed it in the bowl with the ricotta/balsamic stuff, so cleanup was easier. (Cheese always seems to stick to our pasta pot forever.)
Of course, we used full-fat ricotta, so I'd be curious to hear how people did with part-skim.
Also, does anyone know how to avoid that weird coating that spinach leaves on your teeth? (Yes, I'm aware of brushing.)
I thought this recipe was super easy to make but I didn't love, love it. After seeing everything that went into it, I had high expectations for the combination of flavors, and then, surprisingly, I found the dish to be on the blander side. My husband liked it but didn't rave. Overall, a very pleasing dish in terms of presentation (all the different colors and textures were great) but I'm not sure I would make it again anytime soon.
I was a bit weirded out by the raisins as well but loved them. We really enjoyed this dish because it was yummy and a little different. I plan to make it again for guests as part of a buffet of salads.
I would mix the cheese and pine nuts in from the get go next time. It was a pain to mix them in at the table. Plus, they didn't really work as a garnish because there was so much of them.
I also used fresh spinach. I cooked two bags but didn't feel like there was quite enough. Who else used fresh spinach? How much did you use?
I thought this was a fun and different recipe to make, but I was also dissapointed with the final burst of flavor after putting all these seemingly flavorful ingredients together. It was enjoyable, and got eaten, but not something I would be excited to make again. I actually liked the overall flavor better before tossing in the ricotta mixture. I think that masked some of the freshness and diversity of the basil, scallions, and raisns. I also went with fresh spinach to avoid the draining issue, and probably did not use as much as I should have to equal the 10oz. box of frozen, but the ratio seemed OK. I used one large bag, which I think was 7 oz. I also went with whole wheat pasta and part-skim ricotta. I would try something similar again, but try to change a few more factors to punch up the flavor.
We only used 1 8-oz. bag of spinach, and, because we doubled the recipe, we agreed with Kara there wasn't quite enough. I guess the frozen stuff is really concentrated. (Love the salad buffet idea!)
I'm glad that the part-skim was tasty -- after Jeremy and I ate almost the entire recipe, I felt like passing out!
To those who thought the flavor was a little bland, I would strongly recommend the garlic. (I tend to go a little nuts with hot pepper flakes, but I loved them in this too...it's just not for everyone.)
Laura, your basil leaf is adorable!
I skipped the last three months as I have been busy. Bad excuse? I know that you all are busy as well. I apologize!! I really wanted to make the blueberry cake, pizza and biscotti, so I hope that I'll make efforts to try the recipes in the near future.
I'm glad that I am able to participate this month!
Amy, thanks for the recipe! We enjoyed the pasta dish. Like Kara, I used fresh spinach, but I only used one bag of it and reduced the amount of pasta to half. Since we're only two adults and a baby, I figured that it would enough for us to have half of the pasta. I think that this dish would be great for potluck party. I showed the recipe to one of my friends here and she loved cooking it as well.
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