Spinach Pasta with Roasted Garlic & Sun-dried Tomato Sauce

There's nothing like a plate of spinach pasta served as dinner on a weeknight, especially when its smelling of garlic and looks as pretty as this one! Improvising on my previous recipe, I made these again last night, albeit with a few delicious changes. Cherry Tomatoes, of course were the star ingredients, but I went ahead and added a paste of roasted garlic, pine-nuts and some sun-dried tomatoes to the sauce, which gave it a wonderful flavor! This time, I also went for lightly roasted tomatoes instead of plain ones, which makes such a huge difference. So here's the edited and improved version of Spinach Fettuccine with Roasted Garlic and Tomato Sauce, that is simple and tasty to serve as weeknight dinner!

Ingredients
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 medium onion - finely chopped
2 large garlic cloves - minced
1 tspn fresh lemon juice
freshly ground pepper - to taste
salt - to taste
2 tbsp white wine (optional)
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1 tsp thyme leaves
1/2 cup parmesan cheese - freshly grated
1/2 pound fresh spinach fettuccine

Ground Paste (optional)
3 cloves of roasted garlic
2 tbsp sun-dried tomatoes
1 tsp pine nuts
1 tbsp olive oil
Roast the garlic cloves and pine-nuts separately, then grind it all together with olive oil to make a fine paste.

Method
Cook the spinach fettucini in boiling water with 1 tbsp olive oil until tender. make the Ground paste and keep it aside.

Gently grease the tomatoes with olive oil and line them in a baking tray. Now roast at 250 deg F for about 7-8 mins, until lightly smoked and skin appears a little roasted.

Saute the onion in oil until tender and glossy. Add the minced garlic, lemon juice, salt, and pepper and wine. Let it simmer for 5 more minutes. Now add the roasted garlic and sun-dried tomato paste to this and mix well.

Add the roasted cherry tomatoes to this mixture. Lower the flame and cover with a lid. Let the tomatoes soak in the wine and garlic, but do not let them become mushy and overcooked. Season with thyme and sprinkle more roasted pine nuts on the top if you like.

Spread the cooked pasta on a plate. Top it with a generous helping of the sauce. Season with some more salt and pepper if needed; then top with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese!

This pasta recipe is my current favorite, as it has half the calories of a Fettucini Alfredo, and is very easy to make. Smelling of fresh roasted garlic, its hard to resist a plate of this Spinach Fettucini, don't you think!

Related Recipes:
Stuffed Ravioli in Saffron & Tomato Cream Sauce
Baked Rigatoni with Garlic & Basil Marinara Sauce
Fettucini in Almond Pesto Sauce