Simple Roasted Artichoke Heart Pasta
Here is a pasta dish made mostly with pantry staples that’s as tasty as it is easy! Roasting marinated artichoke hearts transforms them into something crispy and even more delicious! A perfect match for pasta and cheese, yes please!
When I say this recipe is super simple, I mean it! Just pop some marinated artichoke hearts along with smashed garlic cloves in the oven to roast and get nice and golden and crispy. While these are in the oven, boil your pasta. Lightly sauté spinach and combine it all together. A quick weeknight meal that feels a little fancy!
Cooking Tip!
Let’s talk pasta, seems easy enough to cook right? Well there are a few things that I have learned over the years that really boosts my pasta dishes. The first is, salt your pasta cooking water. Salt is truly one of my favorite flavors, I’d choose savory over sweet any day of the week. While it’s true that many of us consume a bit too much sodium in our diet, home cooking often isn’t the culprit. So aim to prep most of your meals at home vs. eating take out or prepackaged foods, and salt your pasta water! It really does help add quite a bit of flavor to your dishes. When cooking pasta with salted water I just give the pot a good shake from my kosher salt box, but aim for around 1 Tbsp salt per gallon of water. When using salted water, your pasta sauce may require less salt. When following recipes, I always recommend starting with small amount of salt, and adding more to taste!
My second pasta cooking tip is ensuring you always reserve a cup of the cooking water before draining. It is my favorite thing to forget when I cook pasta, but really can make a difference if your pasta seems a bit dry and needs some ‘saucing’ up after cooking. Adding splashes of pasta water back into your noodles with cheese helps it to melt and create a yummy sauce that coats all noodles. Is your mouth watering yet?
Nutrition Tip!
Did you know that in the United States, grains such as pasta products, are enriched with essential nutrients that we may be lacking in our diet? Fortified grain products are enriched with thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, iron, and folic acid.1 Some also may be fortified with calcium or vitamin D. Adding nutrients to the food supply through fortification is an effective way of improving and maintaining nutritional quality of the foods that we eat as part of a public health objective.1 As most people eat grains regularly, this fortification is a great way to prevent nutrient deficiencies!
Simple Roasted Artichoke Heart Pasta
Ingredients
- 16 oz (about 2 cups) marinated artichoke hearts
- 4 garlic cloves, smashed
- 1/2 lb spaghetti noodles
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
- 1 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 bunch (or about 3 large handfuls) spinach
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 F.
- Remove artichokes from a jar, and let drain for a minute. Smash and peel garlic cloves. Place artichokes and smashed garlic cloves on a rimmed baking sheet. Toss slightly so that some of the oil remaining on the artichoke hearts coats garlic.
- Place in oven and roast for 20 minutes, tossing halfway through, or until they are golden and crispy.
- While artichokes are roasting, bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook spaghetti noodles al dente according to package directions. Reserve 1 cup pasta water before draining.
- Drain pasta and place pot back on still hot burner. Add olive oil and spinach and sauté just until it wilts but is still bright in color, about 2 minutes. Add pasta, black pepper, red pepper flakes, parmesan cheese, and splash of pasta water and stir to combine. If pasta seems dry, add more pasta water.
- Once artichoke hearts and garlic are done roasting, remove from oven. Use your spatula to break up the roasted garlic into smaller pieces. Add roasted artichoke hearts and garlic to pasta.
- Serve immediately with extra cheese for topping. Yum!
References
https://www.fda.gov/media/94563/download
