Spinach Pasta Sauce

For Easter, I wanted to bring a green side dish to go along with what I knew would be a heavily brownish meal (mac & cheese, dressing, rolls, etc.) but still wanted it to be a bit indulgent and carb-happy. I also wanted to cook ahead of time so I could go to church.

So I invented a spinach based pasta sauce, to be served chilled on pasta salad. It was very easy to make, and both kids slurped it up.




Ingredients:

1 pkg. frozen spinach
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 small onion
1 pinch sea salt
2 cloves garlic
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. parsley
1/2 tsp. lemon zest
1 pkg whole wheat penne pasta
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes
1/4 cup lemon juice




Directions:
Thaw spinach. You will use 1/3 of the package for this recipe. Put the other 2/3 in a tupperware container in your fridge, you can throw it into dinner or breakfast later. Before you start the sauce, cook pasta according to manufacturer's directions. While the pasta is cooking, mince your onion and garlic. Combine in the blender the onion, garlic, and spinach. Blend until the food starts to puree, then, while still blending, drizzle olive oil and lemon juice into blender until all is mixed in. Shut off the blender. It should look like this:

Add in your parsley, lemon, zest, salt, and pepper. Stir in well so that all of the sauce is well seasoned. Pour (this will require use of a spoon) into a bowl and toss with the pasta. Chop your sundried tomatoes into small bits and mix into the pasta. Chill until ready to serve.(Pasta prior to the addition of sun-dried tomatoes)



Enjoy!