Mother Nature's Green Garden Pasta

Hey everybody! Today's post is a recipe that I tried out the other day for a rehearsal dinner. I used fresh spinach and mushrooms from my delivery of produce from Full Circle Farms in this dish, and it turned out very well. This is extremely healthy and is packed with a bunch of different vegetables, plus you can freeze the sauce and reheat it when you need a quick meal. Also, its green color against the red peppers and tomatoes looks super pretty.
 

Mother Nature’s Green Garden Pasta

Serves 6 – 8

Ingredients

1 (16 oz) package whole-wheat spaghetti

10 crimini mushrooms

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper, to taste

2 roma tomatoes, diced (for garnish)

A couple handfuls of Italian parsley, finely chopped (for garnish)

For the Green Garden sauce:

1 bunch spinach, coarsely chopped

½ cups frozen peas, thawed

¼ of a large yellow onion, cut into large pieces

1 medium-large zucchini, cut into large pieces

½ cup Italian parsley

3 large garlic cloves, peeled

The juice of 1 lemon

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

About 2 – 3 cups of water

Salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation

1.      Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to the directions on the package.

2.      Using a damp paper towel, gently wipe off all of the mushrooms to remove dirt. Cut the ends of the stems off of the mushrooms and cut each mushroom in half vertically. Thinly slice the mushrooms.

3.      Combine all of the ingredients of the sauce in a high-speed blender and puree until very smooth. Adjust the consistency by adding water. The more water you add, the runnier it will be, and you can decide how runny/thick you want it.

4.      Heat the olive oil in a large skillet at medium-high heat. Add the peppers and sauté for about one minute. Then, add the garlic and the mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until the mushrooms are soft and the garlic is golden brown. Remove from heat.

5.      Combine the noodles with the sautéed vegetables and 2½ cups of the green sauce.  Mix well. Top each individual plate with diced tomatoes and parsley. After dinner, freeze the remaining pasta sauce in an ice cube tray. This way, you can reheat it and have it on pasta for quick lunches and dinners.

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