Creamy Spinach Pasta

📝 Ingredients

• 360 g dried short pasta (penne or fusilli)
• 600 g frozen whole-leaf spinach
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 200 ml light single cream 12%
• 60 g grated Parmesan
• ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
• 100 ml pasta cooking water (set aside)
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Large saucepan
• Large frying pan or sauté pan with lid
• Colander
• Mug or measuring jug
• Wooden spoon

📖 Steps

1. Bring a large pot of water to the boil over a high heat, then salt it generously (about 10 g salt per litre). While it heats, see to the spinach: no need to thaw it in advance.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the still-frozen spinach, cover for 5 min so it thaws, then uncover and cook for 5 to 8 min, stirring, until all the water released has evaporated: this is what stops the sauce being watery.
3. Drop the pasta into the boiling water and cook, stirring from time to time, for 1 min less than the time on the packet. Just before draining, scoop out 100 ml cooking water with a mug: its starch will help bind the sauce.
4. While the pasta cooks, sprinkle the spinach with garlic powder and nutmeg, stir for 30 s, then pour in the cream. Leave to simmer for 2 min over a low heat, just long enough for it to thicken slightly. Go easy on the salt, as the Parmesan is already salty, and add pepper.
5. Drain the pasta and tip it straight into the pan of spinach, over a low heat. Add half the reserved cooking water and stir for 1 min, until the sauce coats each piece of pasta well.
6. Remove from the heat and sprinkle in the Parmesan, stirring constantly so it melts without going stringy. If the sauce seems thick or sticky, add the rest of the cooking water a little at a time, until creamy and glossy.
7. Taste and adjust the seasoning, then serve straight away on warm plates with a grind of pepper. The sauce keeps thickening as it cools: if the pasta has to wait, loosen it with a splash of hot water.