Creamy Lemon Pasta with Tomatoes and Spinach
I think I might be obsessed with lemons. I just get way too excited when I come across any recipe that incorporates them, whether it’s in a pasta dish, muffins, or a quick bread. I even get the huge 5 lb lemon bags from Costco and I’m only cooking for 2! Unfortunately, a couple of them get thrown out because I don’t use them in time. But in the end, you can never have too many lemons because you’ll always have some use of them. Like in this pasta.
Now this pasta dish has a creamy sauce made only from 4 ingredients: garlic, heavy cream, lemon juice and lemon zest. It doesn’t seem like much but the end product is a thin coating on the pasta that has a refreshing burst of lemony freshness with a tiny bit of saltiness to it. Throw in some fresh baby spinach and cherry tomatoes and you have a simple, quick, and healthy dinner made in less than 30 minutes.
Creamy Lemon Pasta with Tomatoes and Spinach (adapted from Comfort of Cooking):
Yields 4 servings
- 8 ounces farfalle pasta
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 lemons, zested and juiced
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 cups baby spinach
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
- 1/2 pint grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; drain well.
While the pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large saucepan. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Add the cream, lemon zest and lemon juice; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and let simmer until it starts to thicken, about 5-10 minutes.
Add the pasta and gently toss to combine.
Remove from heat; add the spinach, Parmesan and tomatoes and gently toss to combine until the spinach has wilted.
Serve immediately.
Love this recipe, and on a side note, I love lemons too, so much! You can slice and freeze them and use in teas and\or water. Just a thought because it’s always sad when a lemon goes bad.
Delicious! Everyone loves this dish (especially me) so I double the the recipe. Chungha is the best!
Lemony zesty amazing pasta!
My 1, 3, And adult husband year old scarfed it down. So easy. Follow the instructions and it will be a go to.
I made this tonight and it was good. The only thing I would change is only use one lemon. I used two and it seemed to overwhelm the other flavors. Almost made it too “tangy”, I’m also going to add a tablespoon on tomato past to the sauce to mellow out the acid of the lemon.
Just made this for dinner and it was so wonderful that even my meat ‘n potatoes husband had seconds and my children, who are tomato-adverse, ate their tomatoes! I’ve started doing Meatless Mondays with my family, and thought I’d try this tonight and am so glad I did. Honestly, Chungah, every recipe I’ve tried from your site has been fantastic! Thank you!
my pasta tasted like vomit 🙁 sour and acidic. what did i do wrong? i used light thickened cream – do you think this was the problem? i even used less lemon juice than suggested. 🙁
I worry that your cream may have spoiled! Also, using a substitution may have resulted in a mediocre outcome. It is always best to use all of the ingredients as listed in the recipe to obtain the best results possible.