You know when you have one of those days you really fancy like pasta?  This recipe is born out of that feeling (or rather craving) for pasta and what leftovers I had in the fridge.  I had spinach, cherry tomato, garlic, onion and a couple of table spoons of ricotta which adds a lovely light texture to the sauce we’re about to cook.

Who says leftover day has to result in strange combinations on your plate?

Like I said, yum!

I accidentally (ahem) made too much for 1 plate….so I had to eat the seconds too…  whoops….

Ingredients (per person)

• 100gr fresh spinach, rinsed and cleaned
• 200gr cherry tomatoes, washed and halved
• 50gr onion, peeled and diced
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and diced
• 75gr ricotta
• to season: pepper, salt, ground nutmeg
• 1 portion pasta (I used tagliatelle)
• splash of béchamel

Method:

To start this rather easy recipe, we start off with cleaning and rinsing our spinach, peeling the onion and garlic and washing our cherry tomatoes.  Half the tomatoes and set aside in a bowl.  Then take your onion and garlic and dice these finely.

Place a pan with salted water and a splash of olive oil and bring to the boil.  Cook the pasta of your choice, 1-2 minutes less then as advised on the package.  The olive oil will stop the pasta from boiling over and from the pasta sticking together in a big lump when drained.  When just undercooked, drain the water and keep the pasta warm.

Place a deep, large skillet on a medium heat and melt in some butter.  First add on the spinach and let this cook until wilted.  Then we add our cherry tomato halves and fry them shortly.  Then also add on your onion, garlic and let cook for a few minutes until translucent.  Finally season with pepper, salt and some freshly grated nutmeg for flavour. (Nutmeg and garlic with spinach are heavenly).  Let this cook slowly until the spinach is sufficiently welted and press the juice out of the cherry tomato halves. Stir regularly so all the flavours get well mixed.

Add on your splash of béchamel, I can’t really say the amount in ml or grams but a good squirt should do the trick.  Stir again so all the ingredients get coated in the béchamel sauce.  Let this cook for a few minutes and then add the ricotta.   Finally add your pasta and coat well.  I would let this cook for a few minutes, to make sure your pasta is cooked al dente in the sauce, and then serve hot.

Enjoy!