Pasta with Spinach, Tomatoes and Roasted Garlic

Simple and fresh pasta salad with spinach, tomatoes and roasted garlic.

Course Pasta, Potatoes, Rice & Grains

Cuisine American

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 20

Total Time 35

Servings Servings

Calories 256kcal

Author Creative Culinary

¼ cup olive oil
1 Tbsp butter
1 head of garlic roasted
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 medium onion cut into large dice
1 box Bow-tie pasta
6 oz baby spinach (I had a pre-washed bag of spinach I used it was a 6 oz package.
2 cups fresh tomatoes diced
Salt and Pepper
Fresh grated Parmesan cheese

Put half of the olive oil, roasted garlic cloves (see Notes for more info) and balsamic vinegar into a small food processor or a small bowl. Process or mash until the garlic is no longer large pieces.
Put the remaining oil and the butter into a saucepan with chopped onions, a pinch of salt and and some fresh ground pepper; cook the onion until translucent and starting to brown; add the garlic/oil mixture and thoroughly incorporate with the onions. Remove to bowl.
Using the same pot, fill with salted water and bring it to a boil. Add pasta and cook according to package directions til al dente. Drain and return to the pot.
Add the uncooked baby spinach and the onion/garlic/oil mixture to the pot and toss together.
On medium heat, add the diced tomatoes, stirring to combine. Heat for an additional 2 minutes; stirring constantly.
Serve in bowls with fresh grated Parmesan cheese grated on top.

I used a bowl of fresh from the garden cherry tomatoes that I just had to cut in half. They were perfect but you could also dice larger tomatoes.

I just love how roasting garlic makes it so sweet. Here's how:

Peel off any loose paper on garlic bulbs you want to roast but don't separate the cloves; keeping the bulb form.

Cut off the top of the bulb exposing the raw cloves.

Put the bulbs into a heatproof dish and drizzle each one with some olive oil.

Salt and pepper each bulb.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 325 for one hour. Cloves should be lightly brown.

When cool, simply squeeze the cloves out of the bulb.