Pasta With Garlicky Spinach and Buttered Pistachios Recipe (2024)

Seriously, in these troubled times, who has pistachios hanging around? Chopped some raw almonds and sauteed them in the butter with a little olive oil. Took them out, did the rest of the saute and added them in at the end. Added red pepper flakes because they are always good. Quick, the saucy spinach was done before the pasta. Very versatile, use what you have on hand. Little sliced onion, little sliced cabbage, anything. Capers and garlic are key.

actually Julie, someone sent me a giant bag of pistachios for Christmas and I still have a lot left....I have to shell them, but they are a godsend!!! the gift that keeps on giving!!!

They have pistachios at Costco , you can get it delivered in 2 days. It is easier to find pistachios than toilet paper or flour

Love it that sauce timing and pasta timing are equals - makes it a race to the finish. Added a few stout shakes of chipotle pepper during the butter phase for sparkle, used dandelion greens because the garden is full of them, and at the end was inspired to throw in a spoonful of plain Greek yoghurt and a handful of chopped queso fresco. These dissolved into a lush cloak for the whole. Put browned nuts atop a masterpiece. Bowls were licked clean.

It’s a dark day if we run out of pistachios

...and I just saw Jimmy Kimmel purées cannelli beans and adds them to pasta hiding the beneficial protein from his two young kids and adds some creaminess. Tricky.

Add a can of chickpeas once the spinach has wilted and you have a good source of protein. We like grated Asiago on this but any sharp cheese will do.

I've made this recipe twice and my husband and I love it. I added red pepper flakes both times. I made an important adjustment the second time, adding the pasta and pasta water after cooking the garlic, nuts and capers, but before adding the spinach. The pasta gets fully coated with the sauce and the spinach does not wilt down to nothing. I also added a few extra pinches of sea salt. Delicious!

Added idea: I dry-roasted the nuts (a combo of pistachios and hazelnuts) in the oven for about 12 min and then chopped them up before throwing them into the butter. This added a really lovely toasty layer to the dish.

I found this recipe because I have pistachios in the pantry that I want to use.

I loved this recipe. Always have these ingredients in my pantry. I divided the recipe in half and found it plenty for 3 people. I served an Italian sausage that I grilled on the side. A complete meal

If you salted your pasta well, think about your ingredients before adding the salt to the spinach. I skipped it, and it was plenty salty. Next time I might try a splash of white wine before the pasta water.

I made this because I happened to have all the ingredients on hand. It was easy and fast and absolutely delicious! What could be bad with butter, garlic and pistachios? Next time I will try it with different nuts and possibly a different green.( I'm thinking arugula and toasted almonds). This recipe is really just a starting point for a creative use of whatever you have left in the refrigerator.And Julie: I had a bag of pistachios lying around since last summer. Gone now.

This was wonderful, and so easy. Only change I made was to substitute 1 T. olive oil and 2 T. butter for the 4 T. butter, and I sauteed the nuts, garlic, and capers, along with a pinch of red pepper flakes, until the garlic was golden before adding the spinach. I used slivered almonds because that's what I had. A keeper.

I always keep a variety of nuts in the pantry to spice things up with added protien, love this! I will say, for a recipe like this I do enjoy chopping my greens in the food processor and tossing with pasta so they make a sort of light pesto and they won't clump together like leaves sometimes do. Thank you!

Pecorino cheese sauce

I have made this 3x now for my family (my husband, my 3 yo, and my 2 yo). It is our favorite pasta atm. I add one can of cannellini beans for extra protein and more garlic because duh. I skip the capers because I usually don't buy them. I love the addition of red chili flakes, extra Parm, and lemon zest over top my own serving. Delicious!

Dollop of crème fraiche at the end blended in to bind it all. Crushed red pepper and black pepper... parm. Yum

Made it exactly as the recipe outlined. Good, but I had challenges with the spinach wilting and not covering a lot of the rigatone. It was good, but may not make again,

It's just my wife and me so I used 8oz whole wheat penne and 16oz baby spinach,everything else the same.. turned out perfect. What a great recipe.

Added some sautéed cremini mushrooms and ricotta cheese I had on hand, delish!!

No capers, thyme lemon balsamicAdded ricottaUsed broccoli Put capers and pistachios on top

This is a great meal, and so, so good. I made it when it was printed a few years ago, and I think of it often, and how delicious it is. I switch up the vegetables, it is wonderful with all of them. Well, the only vegetable I don't like is eggplant, so I don't recommend that.

I made the recipe as is. It was a little bland but still yummy and something I’d like to try again with more additions. Parmesan cheese at the end helped. Next time I would add red pepper flakes and lemon as others suggested. Would also sautee mushrooms and/or zucchini and perhaps add chickpeas or white beans for protein. I could’ve cut the pasta and spinach portions in half for two. But would keep the rest of the ingredient portions.

This was alright. I wish I had read the notes about adding lemon zest/juice because it’s definitely missing some acid (I added balsamic vinegar glaze while eating). Seems pretty adaptable for any number of ingredients.

Delicious but the baby spinach I used disappeared. Will switch greens or add it at the end next time.

Made as directed w dinner extra spinach and capers. Delicious

I added fresh lemon juice at the end for some crisp fresh acidic flavor. Worked well.

I change this recipe a lot. Instead of slicing the spinach, I chopped it. I used all olives instead of capers, and I chopped the olives. This was a packing mistake in the grocery store. Instead of Parmesan cheese as a topping, I used asiago instead. Asiago, I think, goes better with the nutty flavor of the pistachios. it was delicious.

I made this for two, so took the amount of pasta way down, but kept most of the ingredients the same. Used an 8 ounce bag of baby spinach and Maflada pasta. Per others, added hot pepper flakes and used olive oil and butter, instead of just butter. Threw in lemon zest and lemon juice at the end. Would double capers and garlic next time. We just returned from Las Vegas, and my husband said this pasta was better than the one he had at a great Italian restaurant at the Venetian!