Creamy Spinach Pasta

Each one has their own way of indulging themselves, a good bath, a spa treatment, a weekend trip, shopping, well mine is this: Creamy Spinach Pasta. It might be just something in my mind, but when I eat spoonfuls of this pasta, taking in the aroma of nutmeg and rosemary I feel my spirit is uplifted. All the troubles of everyday life just melt away and I savor the creamy, cheesy, spinachy, flavors of this pasta. I could go on, but I stop here.

Cooking Time: 30 Mins Serves 2 People

Ingredients

1 ½ Cup Pasta, I prefer Fuseli because the sauce gets coated really well in the groves of the pasta
½ Cup grated Cheese (really your choice, use whatever you like or a combination of whatever you have)
½ Cup of sweet corn kernels (I use canned. You will go to hell eating this pasta anyways!)

For Sauce:

4 measuring cups of destalked spinach (if you can get your hands on baby spinach nothing like it)
100 Ml Fresh cream
1 teaspoon butter
2 cups of milk, full fat (need I say anything?)
2 pods of garlic, minced
1 table spoon all purpose flour (maida)
A Pinch of nutmeg (very very little, it is a potent spice)
A Pinch of dry Rosemary (use this sparingly, it can become unpleasant if used in excess)
Salt and Pepper to taste


Ok, so this is how you do it….

Cook the pasta Al-Dente.

Wash the spinach well and drain off all the water. Place in a vessel and add a drop of water and a pinch of salt. It is very easy to over salt spinach (greens of any kind), so add very little. Let the greens wilt, once the spinach is cooked, squeeze out excess water and mince very finely. The spinach has a tendency clump together, so it is very important to mince very finely.

In a large pan, add the butter, as the butter melts add the minced garlic. Let the garlic sizzle.

Add the minced spinach, 100 mls of cream and let it simmer. In the meantime, mix 1 tablespoon all purpose flour to 1 cup of milk. Ensure that there are no lumps

Add the milk and flour mixture along with the rest of the milk to the cream and spinach

Let the sauce simmer, stir constantly in a gentle manner.

When the sauce it slightly thickened (it should from a creamy layer on the back of a spoon), add the corn kernels, nutmeg, rosemary, salt and pepper. Do not add too much of salt as the cheese will add additional saltiness to the dish. Let the sauce simmer for 2 minutes

Layer a baking dish with one layer of sauce, followed by pasta and cheese. Ensure that the last layer is a layer of sauce topped with the cheese.

Bake in a pre-heated oven (180 degrees) for 20 minutes or till the top layer is slightly browned.

And then….hmmmm…absolute bliss. Those of you, who thought ice-cream or chocolate were comfort foods, trust me, once you have tasted this, nothing else will stand a chance.

I had a pretty bad day that involved washing vessels, getting rid of garbage and generally bringing the house to order (My maid is out and I miss her!!). I had brought the pasta to work, having had no time at all to do it justice at home. One mouthful of the pasta was all it took for me to forget everything!

Indulgence is all well and good…but tomorrow, tomorrow is another day and I shall endeavor to make it healthier than today (I try, honestly, I do). So, it’s going to be Pesto and I swear, I shall keep off the cream that is leftover from today. Does anyone one of you want to take the remaining cream off my hand?