Roasted Garlic Spinach Orecchiette with fresh spinach, roasted shiitake mushrooms, caramelized onions and heirloom quinoa.
One of comfort food's best performer, pasta is simply an amazing dish in every shape and form. For me, it’s easy to reach for a bowl of pasta whenever my body craves deeper fulfillment, satisfaction and joy.
Unfortunately however, this carbohydrate representative doesn’t always get benefit of good justice. While I, like many others, run desperately away from heavier carbs (yep, pasta), I’ll be fair to say in it’s defense that the market if overwhelmed with amazing brands, high quality pastas made with lots of added nutrition to satisfy every need.
So I would encourage you to shop around and try different products and brands, until you find the perfect balance of taste, quality and dietary needs. Once you do, my best tip is to keep it simple, add lots of herbs, spices and natural flavors to make it delicious without drowning your noodles in sauce!
Here are some of my favorites;
Now let’s make this delicious Roasted Garlic Spinach Orecchiette!
For the sake of time, I almost always have roasted garlic ready to take my recipes to the next level (cuz this magic clove always does!), but you can sauté the garlic to shorten the recipe time. Most of time I fit this step in between chores and errands. Simply time the oven and walk away, it’s the beauty of technology!
Check out this Garlicky Kale & Mushroom Whole Grain Pasta!
And since we are really taking our orecchiette up all levels, why not add in some quinoa protein, green spinach, fresh shiitake mushrooms aaaaand an egg or two 🙂
I think by now you’ve figure out that I’ll do anything to eat my pasta ha? All I'll say is this -a girl gotta to do what she needs to do, to eat her pasta and make sure it feels good too!
So what you say we make this dee-licious roasted garlic spinach orecchiette, tease our neighbors with some intense roasted garlic smells (throw some fresh rosemary on top for double the effect!) and give our belly some food love?
Roasted Garlic Spinach Orecchiette
Ingredients
- 1 package orecchiette
- 6-8 garlic cloves roasted
- ½ cup olive oil divided
- 2 cups fresh spinach
- 1 cup shiitake mushroom
- 1 cup heirloom quinoa
- 1 small white onion
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- salt and pepper to taste
- 6-8 hard boiled eggs optional
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 400F degrees. Peel the garlic and lay on foil. Saturate garlic with 1 tablespoon olive oil and close the foil wrap like a pocket. Place garlic foil in oven, open side up and roast for 40-45 mins.
- Now move on to the caramelization of the onion. Heat a small saucepan with remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Peel and slice the onion, however thickness you like. Add sliced onion and sugar to the pan when oil is hot, turn burner to medium and let the onion caramelize, stirring every 5-10 minutes for 35-40 minutes. About 5-8 minutes prior to done, add in shiitake mushrooms, still and allow it to sauté with the onions. The onions should look soft and have a medium brown color.
- While the onions caramelize and garlic roast on their own, cook the quinoa according to package instructions.
- Have another pot going to cook the orecchiette. Follow package instructions. Strain orecchiette and add in fresh spinach and a drizzle with oil. Gently stir. The heat from the pasta will soften the spinach without overcooking it.
- In a small glass, whisk remaining oil, roasted garlic, salt and pepper to combine.
- Pour orecchiette in a large bowl. Add in garlic oil, caramelized onion, mushrooms and quinoa. Stir to combine.
- If you choose, top with hard boiled eggs, fresh herbs and cheese.
Notes
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