My Grown Up Spaghetti Recipe

I LOVE cheese!!! But this year I gave up dairy for lent... so it was a longggg time with no cheese and no butter. it was HARD to say the least. Once lent was over, I wanted to make a deliciously cheesy pasta dish to satisfy my cravings! I was debating on whether trying a cacio e pepe recipe but I settled on a dish that included some veggies, because I'm a grown up and I should eat veggies... I made a pretty simple sauce of butter, oil, spinach, tomatoes and parmigiano reggiano! And dude, did it hit the spot!! The cheesy al dente noodles with bites of the sauteed spinach and roasted tomatoes was absolutely divine :D

I've shared the recipe below to this delectable treat, take a peek at it below!

Simple and fresh ingredients for this pasta dish that is a winner any day of the week!

Get a good block of parmigiano reggiano, you won't regret it!

A quick toss of the grape tomatoes in olive oil, salt, pepper and oregano.

Mmmmm roasted tomatoes fresh outta the oven - they're ready to be added to the sauce.

The beginnings of a delish pasta sauce!

The reveal - look at all that cheese *heart eyes*

I was so excited to eat this...had to take pics really quick....

The close up beauty shot <3

And because I was hungry, I added half a roasted chicken breast (Using the same "marinade" that I used on the tomatoes!)

Grown Up Spaghetti

Serves 4

For the roasted tomatoes:

1 pint of grape (or cherry) tomatoes

A drizzle of olive oil

Pinch of salt

Pinch of black pepper

Pinch of oregano

For the sauce:

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 a bunch of spinach

1 tsp pepperoncino

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup of grated parmigiano reggiano

Pinch of salt

Pinch of black pepper

For the pasta:

227 g of spaghetti (about half a 454g box)

pot of salted boiling water

For the chicken breasts (optional):

2 chicken breasts, butterflied & separated

A drizzle of olive oil

Pinchof salt

Pinch of black pepper

Pinch of oregano

1. Start with your cherry tomatoes, since they will need some time to roast. In a large bowl, mix the tomatoes with the olive oil, salt, pepper and oregano. Place the "marinated" tomatoes on a cookie sheet and roast in a 400 degree F oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven when done, we'll come back to these bad boys!

2. The sauce comes together quite quickly, so you can start cooking your pasta now. Make sure you generously salt the cooking water and then cook the pasta about 1-2 minutes less than what the package recommends. This will ensure you have al dente noodles because they will still have a chance to cook once you add the noodles to the sauce!

3. Sauce time! Heat the oil and butter in a large pot. Add in the garlic and saute for about 2-3 minutes until they start to turn golden (be careful not to burn!) Add in the spinach and pepperoncino then season with a pinch of salt and pepper, continue to mix until the spinach is wilted. Now go get those roasted tomatoes and add them into the sauce. Give a good mix to the sauce to incorporate the tomatoes.

4. By this time, the spaghetti should be done, so go ahead and add in the spaghetti straight from the water into the sauce pot. Mix to incorporate the sauce and coat all of the pasta, add in 1 ladle of the pasta water. Now time for the best part... add in all of the cheese and mix together!! You might find the sauce needs a little more pasta water, so go ahead and add in another ladle or 2 of the pasta water, feel free to adjust to your preference.

5. Plate the pasta and sprinkle with some MORE cheese and some cracks of fresh black pepper. Then eat, devour & enjoy this grown up spaghetti :)

Optional: Enjoy with a baked chicken breast. Just marinate the chicken breast and roast in a 400 degree F oven for 18-20 minutes (I like to check for done-ness around the 15 minute mark especially since these were butterflied)