Spinach Curry Pasta

October 12, 2021Niketa
Spinach Curry Pasta

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes

Serves: 4

Spinach Curry Pasta is a delicious healthier alternative to marinara or pesto. Filled with nutrients from lush spinach, touch of creaminess and hint of spices. This pasta sauce is creamy, tasty, comforting and nutritious.

Spinach Curry Pasta is a delicious way to sneak in those greens. This pasta gets vibrant green hue from the nutritious spinach. This pasta sauce has pesto vibes, but its lighter and far less oily as it is blanched and blended into a smooth puree. The puree is then spiced with garlic, dried fenugreek and kitchen king masala making it wonderful fusion pasta recipe. This recipe is vegetarian and gluten free. You can make this sauce dairy free too & add wheat pasta if not intolerant to gluten. This pasta sauce is kid approved as my daughter can’t stop eating it.

  • Spinach Curry Pasta

Ingredients

  • Spinach: I prefer using matured regular spinach for this recipe as it has earthy flavors. Baby spinach tends to be bit less earthy in flavor and has more water content.
  • Pasta: I have used elbow pasta for this recipe as the sauce adheres well to this type of pasta. Alternatively you can use ridged penne, spaghetti or linguine.
  • Milk: Addition of the milk to the curry gives a creamy texture and also thickens it. Alternatively, you can add 1/4 heavy cream for a more creamy and rich flavor. Make sure you don’t add cold milk directly into the hot curry. Instead warm it before adding to the curry to avoid curdling.
  • Dried Fenugreek: Gives a beautiful flavor profile to this recipe. Dried fenugreek has a maple essence with a sweet aroma, its more towards bitter side but nutty in flavor. Don’t skip this ingredient.
  • Ghee: I prefer using ghee as its nutty in flavor. It holds up spices well, which makes it a good choice for this recipe . Alternatively, you can use butter or olive oil.
  • Kitchen King Masala (KKM): I have used Everest Kitchen King Masala to add flavors to this recipe. You can easily substitute with Garam Masala as it has pretty much the similar spice mix.
  • Parmesan: Parmesan cheese is the best choice for this recipe. I like to use Parmigiano Reggiano as its subtly sweet and nutty in flavor. You can substitute with cheddar cheese if you like.

How to make the spinach curry sauce vegan

Use cashew cream instead of milk for this recipe . You can substitute parmesan with nutritional yeast.

To make cashew cream simply soak 1/4 cup of cashews in warm water for about 60 minutes. Drain and rinse thoroughly. Place soaked cashews in a blender with 4 tablespoons water and salt to taste. Puree until very smooth. You can store the cashew cream in the refrigerator up to 4 days.

How to make the spinach curry sauce

Blanch

  • Remove the stems from the spinach leaves or leave on if using baby spinach. Wash the spinach and shake off the excess water using a salad spinner.
  • Bring 4 cups of water and 1/2 tsp of salt to a boil in a large pot.
  • Add 2.5 cups of tightly packed spinach to it and blanch for 30 seconds or until the leaves turn bright green in color.
  • With the help of slotted spoon scoop up the spinach and immediately dunk it into a bowl filled with 8-10 ice cubes and cold water. The ice water stops the cooking process and spinach stays tender, bright and retains nutrients.
  • Place the spinach into a strainer to drain the cold water. Squeeze out the excess water from the spinach using your hands.
  • Blend: Add the blanched spinach and chili in blender, puree until the sauce is formed. Leave out the chili if making it for your toddler.
  • Saute: Sauté garlic and dried fenugreek in ghee over a medium flame. Add the spinach puree, masala, coriander powder and salt to taste. Sauté until the raw smell of the masala goes away and the curry begins to thicken.
  • Combine: Add 1/2 cup warm milk to the curry to give it a creamy texture. Simmer the curry until it thickens. Add the cooked pasta, cheese and boiled peas. Adjust the salt and combine well.
  • Serve while still warm, sprinkle with chili flakes, extra cheese & pepper if you like.

How to cook pasta:

  • Read the package instructions to cook the pasta.
  • Make sure you don’t add oil to the pasta water. Adding oil makes the pasta slippery which means the sauce will not adhere to pasta.
  • Add salt to the pasta water when it comes to boil and before you add pasta. The salt will be absorbed by the pasta as it cooks, enhancing the flavor of the pasta.
  • Spinach Curry Pasta
  • Spinach Curry Pasta

Check out these other quick vegetarian meal recipes from my website:

Tofu Satay

Cold Noodles in Sesame Sauce

Gyoza Soup (Vegetable Dumpling Soup)

Print Recipe

Spinach Curry Pasta

  • Prep time: 30 minutes
  • Cook time: 10 minutes
  • Total time: 40 minutes
  • Serves: 4

Spinach Curry Pasta is a delicious Indian twist to a classic pasta sauce. Packed with nutrients from spinach and hint of spices. Makes a wonderful weeknight meal where you can sneak in spinach.

Ingredients

  • 2.5 cups Spinach , tightly packed
  • 1/4 cup Boiled Peas
  • 2 Green Chilies , Optional
  • 1.5 cups Water
  • 1 cup Elbow pasta , (macroni)
  • 1 tbsp Ghee
  • 3 Cloves Garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 tsp Dried Fenugreek , (kasuri methi)
  • 1 tsp Kitchen King Masala
  • 1.5 tsp Coriander Powder
  • 1/2 cup Milk
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 3 tbsp Parmesan Cheese , or Cheddar Cheese

Method

  • 1)

    In a large pot bring water to boil, add  salt, pasta and cook according to the package instructions. Make sure your pasta is cooked al dente – meaning firm to the bite. Once ready drain the pasta and save some cooking water that you can add to the sauce incase its dry.

  • 2)

    Start by washing the spinach leaves to remove the dirt. In a large pot bring 4 cups of water to a rolling boil. Add the spinach and let it boil for about 30-40 seconds until the leaves turn bright green. Fill up a large bowl with 8-10 ice cubes and 1 cup cold water. Scoop up the boiled spinach using a slotted spoon and submerge in a bowl of ice water for about 1 minute. Place spinach into a strainer to drain the water. Squeeze out the water from spinach using your hands and set aside.

  • 3)

    Place the blanched spinach into a mixer and grind to form a smooth spinach puree without adding any water. Feel free to add a green chili if making for adults.

  • 4)

    Heat a saucepan with ghee over a medium high heat. Add finely chopped garlic &  kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves), sauté for a minute or until the flavor of garlic is well infused in the ghee.

  • 5)

    Add the blanched spinach puree to the pan, sauté for a minute .

  • 6)

    Next add coriander powder, kitchen king masala powder and salt to taste. Give everything a good mix and let the curry or sauce simmer for about 4 minutes. The sauce begins to thicken at this point. You can add garam masala instead of kitchen king masala.

  • 7)

    Turn heat on low add 1/2 cup milk to the curry. Mix well and further simmer it on a medium flame stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes or until the curry thickness.

  • 8)

    Add the cooked pasta to the curry along with boiled peas and parmesan cheese, give all a good stir until the pasta is well coated. If your curry feels dry, pour some cooking water set aside and mix well.

  • 9)

    Garnish with parmesan and serve. If serving to adults feel free to add chili flakes & pepper.

Notes

  1. Feel free to use frozen spinach if you don’t have fresh on hand. Make sure to thaw and squeeze any excess water from the spinach.
  2. Blanching spinach not only helps remove the raw bitter taste from spinach but also helps in retaining the lush green color. So don’t skip this step.
  3. If making this recipe for your infant or toddler, leave out the salt & chilies
  4. If you like a little spice, add more masala, chili flakes to the pasta.

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