Gemelli Pasta with Spinach
Easy pasta recipe that comes together fast and hast lots of creamy flavor.
Servings: 2
Calories: 853kcal
Ingredients
- 2 cups (215g) Gemelli Pasta (uncooked)
- 1 tbsp Olive oil (can be omitted if enough fat is there from bacon)
- 3.5 oz (100g) Bacon
- 1 Small-medium onion
- 1 oz (35g) Sun dried tomatoes (in oil)
- ¼ cup (60g) Heavy whipping cream
- ½ cup (123g) Milk
- ⅛ tsp Ground black pepper (or to taste)
- 3 cups Baby spinach
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Cook the Gemelli pasta according to the instructions on the package (10-12 Minutes). Drain, reserving some of the cooking water and set aside.
- As the pasta is cooking, finely dice the onion, thinly slice the bacon, and thinly slice the dried tomatoes in oil. Also, wash the baby spinach if it is not pre-washed.
- In a medium pot or dutch oven sauté the sliced bacon until desired done-ness (about 3-5 minutes). Add the onion and sauté until translucent. Then add the tomatoes and heat them through.
- Add a tablespoon of flour to the bacon-onion-tomato mixture. There should be enough grease from the bacon. You can also add a tablespoon of the oil from the tomatoes. This is optional, but the oil has extra herbs in there and gives the dish more flavor.
- Stir the flour with the rest of the ingredients until well-incorporated (no white should be seen). Sauté for another minute so that the flour is cooked through. Slowly incorporate the cream (mixing all the while), and then the milk. Sprinkle with ground black pepper.
- Add the cooked Gemelli pasta to the sauce and mix until all the pasta is evenly combined. Add some of the drained pasta water to the pot to thin out the sauce. Add as much or as little as you want. I ended up adding about 1/2 cup water to the pasta.
- Salt the pasta to taste, if needed. Note, usually there is enough salt from the bacon and the salted pasta water.
- Add the washed spinach to the pasta and mix in a bit. Cover with a lid and let simmer on very low heat for 2-3 minutes. Stir the pasta once in a while until the spinach has wilted and is evenly incorporated with the rest of the pasta.
- Remove from heat and serve hot.
Notes
If just serving pasta, this recipe gives two, big portions. If served with something else, this amount can feed four people.