Creamy Spinach Pasta Recipe In a Light Mascarpone Cheese Sauce (8 Ingredients, 15 Minutes) by Elisa Schmitz

Dinner in 15 minutes? Yes, please! If you're looking for a quick and easy lunch or dinner recipe, you've found it. This creamy spinach pasta recipe is amazing. With just eight ingredients and ready in about 15 minutes, you simply can't go wrong. Especially because this pasta recipe is absolutely delicious!

The magic behind this simple vegetable pasta recipe is that, other than boiling the pasta, there's no cooking to be done. Seriously! While the pasta is cooking, you make the creamy sauce. Then you drain the pasta, toss it into the sauce and serve. So easy!

I love that this flavorful vegetarian recipe is nutritious, too. It's packed with fresh spinach, basil, green onions, lemon and diced tomatoes (check out the health benefits of spinach and the health benefits of basil, among others). But my favorite ingredient in this satisfying meal may be the mascarpone cheese, which creates a light and creamy sauce that's just so delish.

Mascarpone is a slightly sweet cheese with a buttery texture that's similar to an Italian sweet cream cheese. In this recipe, it adds a rich and velvety texture that makes ordinary pasta taste extraordinary. Plus, mascarpone is a good source of calcium, among the other health benefits of mascarpone cheese.

To make this mouth-watering Italian-inspired pasta recipe, here's what you'll need to gather: pasta, mascarpone cheese, minced garlic, green onions, fresh basil, fresh lemon, diced tomatoes and fresh baby spinach. Use your short pasta of choice (regular pasta, gluten-free pasta or even chickpea pasta, which adds additional protein). You can top your pasta with some shredded Parmesan cheese and additional basil as garnish, if you like. Simple and delicious!

Serve this comforting pasta on its own for lunch or for dinner, or serve it as a side dish alongside your favorite proteins (you could even throw some cooked chicken, steak or seafood on top). I served it with a fresh basil garnish, which was just perfect.

Cuisine: Italian / American
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 12 ounces (1 package) short pasta, uncooked (I used rotini)
• 8 ounces (1 package) mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 2 green onions (scallions), finely diced
• 1/3 cup fresh basil leaves, finely diced
• 2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice plus 1 teaspoon zest (the juice and zest from 1 lemon)
• 15 ounces (1 can) diced tomatoes, drained
• 8 ounces fresh baby spinach, chopped or torn
• salt and black pepper, to taste (optional, but I used about a 1/3 teaspoon of each)
• crushed red pepper flakes, to taste, if desired (optional)
• Parmesan cheese, to taste, for garnish (optional)
• fresh basil, for garnish (optional)

Here's how to make it:

1. In a large pot of boiling water, cook pasta according to package directions. Drain pasta, but reserve a 1/2 cup of pasta water in case it's needed to thin the sauce. (You can use regular pasta, gluten-free pasta or chickpea pasta, etc.)
2. While the pasta is cooking, make the sauce. In a large bowl, add the mascarpone cheese, garlic, green onions, basil, lemon juice and zest, and diced tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes, to taste, if desired. Stir to combine.
   
3. Fold in the spinach.
   
4. Add the drained pasta and toss to thoroughly combine. If you feel like you need to thin the sauce, add small amounts of pasta water until you achieve your desired consistency. (I did not need to thin my sauce.)
   
5. Serve immediately. Garnish with shredded Parmesan and/or fresh basil, if desired. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator and reheat in the microwave.
   

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