This super-fast pasta recipe has been sitting in my draft box for ages and is from Donna Hay’s cookbook, “Week Light”. If you love tahini as an ingredient, then you will love the nutty flavor of this pasta recipe. The tahini sauce is a tasty alternative to a cream-based sauce and you only need blend tahini, dill, parsley, mint, garlic, lemon juice and water together when making. Once the pasta is cooked (do reserve a little pasta water in case the sauce needs thinning), add the spinach, pour in the prepared tahini sauce and mix everything together. The chopped almonds scattered over the finished pasta dish add a lovely textural crunch.
Perfect for a mid-week meal and a lovely dish if you are looking for healthier options. Made this dish with plain pasta as that was what was in my cupboard at the time. For a healthier option as in the recipe, wholemeal pasta was used. Tasty and super easy to assemble…play with the choice of herbs if a certain flavor does not appeal to your taste buds. Hopefully you will give this recipe a try and maybe let me know if you do.
And on the subject of healthier options, you might want to have a look as this easy pasta dish with a fresh tomato sauce, another favorite of ours.
Spinach, Tahini and Almond Pasta
(Recipe adapted from the “Week Light” cookbook, by Donna Hay)
Serves 4.
Ingredients:
- 350g dried wholemeal pasta
- 200g baby spinach
- for the tahini sauce
- 140g tahini
- 160ml water
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 5g fresh mint leaves, chopped
- 2 tablespoons of freshly chopped dill
- 8g fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped
- sea salt and cracked black pepper, for seasoning
- for garnish
- a handful of chopped roast almonds, to serve
How to make:
In a processor or blender, add all the prepared ingredients for the tahini sauce. Blend until smooth, season the sauce with salt and black pepper.
Using a large saucepan, cook the pasta in salted boiling water following the cooking times shown on the packet. Reserve a quarter cup of cooking water before draining the pasta. Drain the pasta and return to the saucepan, add the spinach and stir until wilted. Next pour in the tahini sauce, toss with the pasta until all ingredients combined. If necessary, add some of the reserved pasta water if the sauce needs thinning. Divide the pasta between serving bowls and scatter over the almonds and serve.
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