Delicious Spinach Pasta Sauce

A delicious spinach pasta sauce that is creamy and luscious but without the cream! Topped with golden garlic panko crumbs for an addictive crunchy finish. A perfect weeknight dinner and a very satisfying way to get some greens in.

Hello! Recipe inspiration comes from all over the place. Sometimes dishes just pop into my head or come out of a lot of research. More than once an idea has come from eating a dish out and then trying to recreate it. That is the case here! I had a delicious cavolo nero pappardelle at a restaurant here in Auckland called Daphnes.

I knew I wanted to recreate it but because cavolo nero isn't always available, I decided to use baby spinach. It's a really beautiful smooth sauce that coats pasta so well and with the addition of the garlicy crumbs on top, it's pretty damn good!

Main ingredients

Panko crumbs - I love using panko crumbs to top pasta dishes. It's so much easier than faffing round with making breadcrumbs. Toasting them in olive oil makes them super crunchy and golden. Divine!

Garlic - There is garlic in the sauce and in the topping because that's just the way I roll. Fresh cloves are best, always!

Spinach - I used baby spinach so the prep was super easy. If you use regular spinach you'll need more than 250 grams as you'll need to strip the leaves off the stalks etc. The 250 grams needs to be the finished weight.

Parmesan - There aren't many ingredients in the sauce so the quality of the parmesan will make a difference but use whatever is available to you.

Lemon Juice - This sauce needs the zing and acidity from lemon. Fresh juice is always best and then you can use the zest on top too.

Salt and pepper - This sauce really needs seasoning so don't be shy, taste it and adjust to your preference.

How to make a spinach pasta sauce

1. Firstly you will toast the panko crumb topping in a fry pan until golden.
2. To make the sauce you will get your pasta boiling first as you'll need some pasta water to blend with the spinach.
3. At the same time cook the garlic and wilt the spinach in a fry pan.
4. Blend the spinach with pasta water, parmesan, lemon juice and salt and pepper.
5. Add the sauce back into a big fry pan and add the cooked pasta and an extra splash of pasta water if needed.

Tips for success

• You need a good blender to get sauces really silky smooth. I don't actually have one so I just used a stick blender to start then I used a little mini smoothie maker to get it even smoother. If you find it is a bit chunky you could pass it through a sieve. A chunky sauce is still good though!
• Let the pasta gently bubble away in the sauce for a minute or two. That allows the sauce time to cling to the pasta. I undercook my pasta by a minute for this reason.
• Heat your plates! This is such a simple tip that makes all the difference. Pasta gets cold QUICK. Have your plates heating in a warm oven while you cook.
• Get saucy. When the pasta is in the sauce on the heat you want it to be saucier than you think so that when you bring it off the heat and serve, it's perfect. Pasta dries up quickly! Use extra pasta water if you need.

What pasta can I use for this recipe?

I hate rules, use whatever you love! I have used a dried pappardelle because I personally think this sauce works with a long noodle. Any shape, fresh or dried will be delicious!

Fancy making some pasta from scratch? I can help! My easy homemade pasta dough is the ONE. It will never let you down and you could make some homemade pappardelle which is really easy

I am super passionate about hand rolled shapes. If you are really new to pasta use my semolina pasta dough to make some hand rolled gnocchi sardi, the easiest shape EVER.

Why pasta water is your best friend!

You'll hear me harp on about the magic that is pasta water in 99% of my recipes. It really is a key ingredient in every sauce I make. The starch left behind in the water acts as a thickening agent and helps sauces cling to the pasta. I couldn't make a sauce without it.

I never EVER drain my pasta in a colander, I always transfer it directly to the sauce using a spider strainer. That way the pasta pot full of water is left there for you to ladle in as you need. if you have seen my reels on instagram you'll notice my sauces are SAUCY.

Pasta soaks up liquid so quickly so I add enough pasta water to make it quite liquidy. By the time I serve into bowls and take to the table it hasn't dried up. You'll get to know what the right consistency is with some practice, you can't go wrong though I promise!

Want some other sauces to try?

If you loved this delicious spinach pasta sauce then check out my recipe section for loads of other sauces! For some more vegetarian options then my creamy mushroom pasta with olives is pretty damn great. Definitely check out my red pepper pesto pasta or my creamy lemon pasta sauce too!

Recipe FAQS

Made this recipe and loved it?

I would love love LOVE if you could leave me a review down below and let me know what you thought! I love to hear any changes or adaptions you have made too. Also if you put a photo on instagram, please tag me so I can see, it makes my day!

Recipe

Delicious Spinach Pasta Sauce

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5 from 4 votes

Author: Emilie Pullar

Prep time:10 minutes minutes

Cook Time:15 minutes minutes

Servings: 2 people

Print Recipe Pin Rate

A good for you green pasta sauce that is creamy, luscious and of course, completely delicious! Topped with golden brown panko crumbs.

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Ingredients

FOR THE BREADCRUMBS

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 4 - 5 garlic cloves finely chopped

FOR THE SAUCE

• 200 grams dried pasta or 300 grams fresh pasta
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves finely chopped
• 250 grams spinach I used baby spinach
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 40 g parmesan finely grated
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper

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Instructions

FOR THE BREADCRUMBS

• Heat the olive oil in a fry pan over medium heat.
• Add the panko crumbs and mix with the oil, then toast, moving them around so they don't burn.
• Add a big pinch of salt and pepper.
• After 3 - 4 minutes add the garlic and toast for a further 4 - 5 minutes until golden brown. See the pictures above to see the crumbs before and after.
• Yours might take more or less time, it depends on the heat. Stop when deep golden brown.
• Set aside.

FOR THE PASTA

• Get your pasta cooking in a pot of well salted boiling water. You'll need some of the pasta water to blend the spinach so if you cook the pasta first, reserve a good cup of the water.
• At the same time as cooking your pasta heat the olive oil over medium heat in a fry pan big enough to fit all the pasta in at the end.
• Add the garlic and let sizzle for 30 seconds, moving it around so it doesn't burn.
• Add the spinach and let it cook until wilted, around 5 minutes. Add a big pinch of salt and pepper. Turn the heat down if it is too hot.
• Using a high speed blender (or a stick blender, whatever you have) blend the spinach and garlic with ½ cup pasta water until really smooth.
• Add the lemon juice, parmesan and salt and pepper and blend again until well combined.
• Taste the sauce and season to taste, this sauce needs a lot of salt.
• Pour the sauce into the fry pan and heat over a medium - low heat and add your cooked pasta straight in.
• Let it gently bubble for a minute or so in the sauce, add a splash of pasta water if it needs.
• Serve with extra grated parmesan and the garlic crumbs on top.
• I love some lemon zest on top too, that is an optional topping.

Notes

• Be bold with seasoning this dish as it needs it. Taste it and judge what you think it needs, add more lemon, salt and pepper if you want!
• In terms of timing this dish to make it stress free I put the pasta on to boil and the spinach in the fry pan at about the same time. By the time the spinach has wilted the pasta has been cooking long enough that the water is nice and starchy to use to blend the spinach.
• If your pasta is ready before the sauce in any recipe I suggest reserving a big mug full of the pasta water before draining and mix a knob of butter into the drained pasta to stop it sticking and over cooking.
• Letting the pasta bubble away gently in the sauce is a key step in any of my sauces so I generally undercook my pasta by a minute for this reason.

Author: Emilie Pullar

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Course: Vegetarian

Cuisine: Italian Inspired

Keyword: green pasta sauce, spinach pasta

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