Super simple pasta! Sometimes simple is best and it doesn’t get a whole lot easier than this Lemon Pasta with Spinach. On the table under half an hour and makes for the perfect dinner or even lunch.
Join me today in getting a delicious dinner on the table in under 30 minutes. Dishes like this one, my 20 Minute Parmesan Pasta with Broccoli, my Zucchini Pasta Salad in a Lemon Vinaigrette and the easy Garlic Mushroom Spaghetti are all great mid week quick dinners.
What’s This Lemon Spinach Pasta Recipe Like
- Quick and Easy – First of all this is a time saving dish. It’s all prepped and cooked in under 30 minutes
- Fresh tasting – With the lemon zest, juice and fresh spinach, it’s full of fresh flavour.
- Budget friendly – This dish uses pretty inexpensive ingredients, which makes it great for feeding a family on a budget.
Check out Quick Dinners to get dinner on the table in a hurry at home!
The Ingredients
- Fresh – spinach, onion, garlic, lemon zest, parsley
- Dairy – cooking cream, parmesan cheese and butter
- Dried goods – spaghetti
- Seasonings and flavours – vegetable stock, reserved pasta water, olive oil, dried chili, bay leaf, salt and pepper
REMEMBER, The full recipe and ingredients can be found at the end of the post in the recipe card.
Instructions
- Prep all the ingredients – wash the spinach, chop the onions and garlic, grate the parmesan, zest the lemon and chop the parsley.
- Cook garlic in oil – In a large deep sided skillet set over medium heat, add the olive oil, garlic, chili and bay leaf. Give a good stir for about a minute until the garlic is fragrant.
- Cook onions – Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes.
- Cook and drain pasta – In a large pot of boiling water, add spaghetti and cook to instructions on the pack. When cooked, remove and drain. Reserve about 1 cup/240 ml of pasta water.
- Make the sauce – Increase heat to high, add the vegetable stock and bring to a simmer. Allow it to reduce about 3 minutes. Pour in the cooking cream and stir well and bring back to a gentle simmer. Pour in the lemon juice and then the spaghetti. Give a really good stir around.
- Assemble the pasta – Add in a cup/240 ml of pasta water, the butter, cheese, lemon zest, the fresh spinach, parsley, salt and pepper. and give a really good stir.
- Serve – Serve immediately. Can garnish with extra parmesan and parsley if desired.
Recipe Tips and Notes
- Top tip for zesting lemons – Zest the lemon before you squeeze out the juice. Otherwise, it becomes tricky to get the zest. I like to use a small juicer to get the lemon juice. It’s totally not necessary. You can just hand squeeze the lemons. Just make sure you get the seeds out.
- Make sure to reserve the pasta water – this is important for thickening the sauce. The starch from the pasta water will help thicken the sauce.
- Multi task in the kitchen – While you are doing this, get the pasta going. The spaghetti will take about 8 minutes to cook. So, it’s a good idea to cook it while you are making the sauce. IMPORTANT, don’t drain the pasta water away as we’ll need a cup/240 ml to add to the sauce.
Are There Any Substitutions I Can Make To This Spaghetti with Spinach
- Spaghetti – You can use any shape pasta you prefer for this recipe. Spirals, penne, tagliatelle, linguine and everything else will work.
- Parmesan cheese – for a lighter dish, you can leave out the cheese all together or you an substitute a cheese like Gouda or Emmental.
- Spice and seasonings – I used a small dried chili for a bit of heat. You can omit this if you prefer no heat. Parsley was used for the herb, but you could use fresh basil.
Can This lemon Pasta Dish be Made In Advance
- Prep in advance – all the ingredients can be prepped before hand. Just store them in sealed containers in the fridge for freshness when cooking.
- Cooking – pasta is best served fresh. So, I don’t recommend cooking this dish until just before you are about to serve it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Spinach is extremely healthy. It’s low in calories and high in vitamin A as well as it contains antioxidants. By adding it to pasta, you are enriching your dish overall.
Lemons enhance flavour and give dishes a zesty flavour.
If cooking fresh pasta, it will cook much quicker. Fresh pasta will cook in as little as 3 minutes depending on the type of pasta you are using.
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Lemon Pasta with Spinach
Ingredients
- 8 oz spaghetti
- 3 cups fresh spinach
- 1/2 onion peeled and finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves crushed
- 1 Cup cream cooking
- 1 cup grated parmesan
- 1 cup vegetable stock
- 1 Cup reserved pasta water
- Juice and zest of one lemon
- Bunch of freshly chopped parsley
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 dried chili
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- In a large deep sided skillet set over medium heat, add the olive oil, garlic, chili and bay leaf. Give a good stir for about a minute until the garlic is fragrant.
- Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes.
- In a large pot of boiling water, add spaghetti and cook to instructions on the pack. When cooked, remove and drain. Reserve about 1 cup/240 ml of pasta water.
- Increase heat to high, add the vegetable stock and bring to a simmer. Allow it to reduce about 3 minutes. Pour in the cooking cream and stir well and bring back to a gentle simmer.
- Pour in the lemon juice and then the spaghetti. Give a really good stir around.
- Add in a cup/240 ml of pasta water, the butter, cheese, lemon zest, the fresh spinach, parsley, salt and pepper. and give a really good stir.
- Serve immediately. Can garnish with extra parmesan and parsley if desired.
*A note on times provided: appliances vary, any prep and/or cook times provided are estimates only.
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