Spring Pasta with Greens and Chickpeas

I had a bag of spinach to use up and no idea what to do with it. I thought hmm, pasta sounds good tonight. So I searched the internet and found my inspiration from Aggie’s Kitchen.

As I was making it, I was dreaming about our first CSA pickup next week. There is something about fresh vegetables that gets me in the mood to cook. I was also dreaming about the endless variations that this dish could take.

Ingredients:

• pasta
• olive oil
• onions (could use green onions or chives, as occurred to me later)
• garlic (scapes might work too)
• spinach (or any green, really–Swiss chard or kale or even hardy lettuce would work)
• garbanzo beans/chick peas
• dash of red pepper flakes
• splash lemon juice
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the pasta. Add the pasta when it starts to boil.
2. Meanwhile, heat a large skillet and add olive oil. Then, add the chopped onions. Soften for several minutes.
3. Add the garlic, chickpeas, red pepper flakes, and a dash of salt and pepper.
4. After a few minutes, add handfulls of spinach. It cooks down a lot, so use as much as you want to get rid of. When it has cooked down, add a splash of lemon juice.
5. Drain pasta and add to the skillet. Mix well and serve. Garnish with Parmesan cheese.

The Verdict: I was pleasantly surprised at how flavorful this was. DH said it was screaming for a creamy wine sauce. However, I don’t know how to make a wine sauce. I guess that will be my next project!

This post shared with Frugal Food Thursday, Pennywise Platter Thursday, Foodie Friday, Friday Food, Grocery Cart Challenge, Seasonal Sunday