Creamy Cottage Cheese & Spinach Pasta
Blended cottage cheese makes a quick, creamy sauce for spinach pasta without heavy cream.
Equipment
- 1 large pot or baking dish as directed food thermometer
Ingredients
- 10 oz dry pasta
- 2 2/3 cups 2% cottage cheese
- 10 1/2 oz fresh spinach, chopped
- 1/2 cup 1% milk
- 7 Tbsp parmesan, grated, vegetarian microbial-rennet type if needed
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp table salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook pasta to the package’s al dente time, generally 9–12 minutes. Reserve 1 cup cooking water before draining.
- Blend cottage cheese and milk until smooth. Keep aside; do not boil this mixture.
- While pasta cooks, heat oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add garlic for 30 seconds, then spinach and cook for 2–3 minutes until wilted.
- Turn heat to low. Add drained pasta, blended cottage cheese, parmesan, salt and pepper. Toss gently for 1–2 minutes, adding reserved cooking water a little at a time until coated. Heat gently until hot without a hard boil.
- Divide into four equal portions and serve promptly.
Notes
For a vegetarian recipe use cheese made with microbial or vegetable rennet; traditional parmesan may contain animal rennet. Pasta cooking water changes texture, not the modeled dry pasta nutrients. Dairy sauce is best fresh and may split after freezing.
Serving: one of 4 equal portions of the complete batch. Finished cooked weight and volume are unmeasured. No unlisted sides or toppings included.
Refrigerate in shallow containers at 40°F or below within 2 hours (1 hour above 90°F). Use within 3–4 days. Reheat to 165°F throughout; bring soups and stews to a rolling boil while stirring. Freeze a trial portion for up to 2 months for quality, then thaw in the refrigerator. Do not reheat in a slow cooker.
Development recipe; not personally cooked or kitchen tested. Nutrition is Estimated, not Reviewed. Brands and substitutions change the estimate.