Pasta With Garlicky Spinach and Buttered Pistachios

actually Julie, someone sent me a giant bag of pistachios for Christmas and I still have a lot left....I have to shell them, but they are a godsend!!! the gift that keeps on giving!!!

Seriously, in these troubled times, who has pistachios hanging around? Chopped some raw almonds and sauteed them in the butter with a little olive oil. Took them out, did the rest of the saute and added them in at the end. Added red pepper flakes because they are always good. Quick, the saucy spinach was done before the pasta. Very versatile, use what you have on hand. Little sliced onion, little sliced cabbage, anything. Capers and garlic are key.

They have pistachios at Costco , you can get it delivered in 2 days. It is easier to find pistachios than toilet paper or flour

Love it that sauce timing and pasta timing are equals - makes it a race to the finish. Added a few stout shakes of chipotle pepper during the butter phase for sparkle, used dandelion greens because the garden is full of them, and at the end was inspired to throw in a spoonful of plain Greek yoghurt and a handful of chopped queso fresco. These dissolved into a lush cloak for the whole. Put browned nuts atop a masterpiece. Bowls were licked clean.

...and I just saw Jimmy Kimmel purées cannelli beans and adds them to pasta hiding the beneficial protein from his two young kids and adds some creaminess. Tricky.

It’s a dark day if we run out of pistachios

Add a can of chickpeas once the spinach has wilted and you have a good source of protein. We like grated Asiago on this but any sharp cheese will do.

I've made this recipe twice and my husband and I love it. I added red pepper flakes both times. I made an important adjustment the second time, adding the pasta and pasta water after cooking the garlic, nuts and capers, but before adding the spinach. The pasta gets fully coated with the sauce and the spinach does not wilt down to nothing. I also added a few extra pinches of sea salt. Delicious!

Added idea: I dry-roasted the nuts (a combo of pistachios and hazelnuts) in the oven for about 12 min and then chopped them up before throwing them into the butter. This added a really lovely toasty layer to the dish.

I found this recipe because I have pistachios in the pantry that I want to use.

I loved this recipe. Always have these ingredients in my pantry. I divided the recipe in half and found it plenty for 3 people. I served an Italian sausage that I grilled on the side. A complete meal

If you salted your pasta well, think about your ingredients before adding the salt to the spinach. I skipped it, and it was plenty salty. Next time I might try a splash of white wine before the pasta water.

This was wonderful, and so easy. Only change I made was to substitute 1 T. olive oil and 2 T. butter for the 4 T. butter, and I sauteed the nuts, garlic, and capers, along with a pinch of red pepper flakes, until the garlic was golden before adding the spinach. I used slivered almonds because that's what I had. A keeper.

I made this because I happened to have all the ingredients on hand. It was easy and fast and absolutely delicious! What could be bad with butter, garlic and pistachios? Next time I will try it with different nuts and possibly a different green.( I'm thinking arugula and toasted almonds). This recipe is really just a starting point for a creative use of whatever you have left in the refrigerator. And Julie: I had a bag of pistachios lying around since last summer. Gone now.

I always keep a variety of nuts in the pantry to spice things up with added protien, love this! I will say, for a recipe like this I do enjoy chopping my greens in the food processor and tossing with pasta so they make a sort of light pesto and they won't clump together like leaves sometimes do. Thank you!