Spinach, Goat Cheese and Sun Dried Tomato Pasta

After a long day at work, I was fairly tired but still wanted something freshly prepared. Since I had some goat cheese, sun dried tomatoes and egg tagliatelle, I turned to the website Cookthink to find an easy dish to make with these ingredients. Cookthink is a great tool for those days when you’re craving something, but have no clue what to do with it. You type in the items you want to use and presto! Out pops a recipe! When I put in goat cheese and sun dried tomatoes, a recipe entitled Penne with Goat Cheese, Artichoke Hearts and Sun Dried Tomatoes popped up. Well, I didn’t want penne pasta and I didn’t have artichoke hearts, but I did have the tagliatelle and some spinach from my CSA box. So I decided to improvise and came up with something quite tasty!

4 ounces goat cheese

3 ounces sun dried tomatoes, along with the olive oil from the tomatoes

1 clove garlic, minced

Salt and pepper to taste

Large handful spinach

4 to 6 ounces egg tagliatelle (depending on how many servings you plan to make) – you can also use any other pasta

About 1/2 cup pasta water

Put a large pot of water on to boil and turn to the sun dried tomatoes. Chop up the tomatoes and mix them in with the goat cheese. Add the minced garlic and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside. When the water comes to a boil, salt it generously and then add the tagliatelle. Cook until al dente and then drain the pasta. Reserve about a 1/2 cup of the pasta water. Remove any stems from the spinach and wash it thoroughly. Heat a bit of olive oil in a pan on medium heat and add the spinach to it. Cook until the spinach is wilted and then add the pasta to the pan.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the goat cheese mixture. Toss the pasta and spinach thoroughly to coat it with the cheese. Add enough pasta water to reach the consistency you want the sauce to be (I preferred mine thick) and serve!

This was an incredibly flavorful meal that was done in only 15 minutes (the egg tagliatelle only requires 4 minutes of cooking time), which goes to show fast food does not have to be from McDonald’s!