1 pound fettuccine
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/3 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup oil packed sun-dried tomatoes, roughly chopped
12 ounces artichoke hearts, drained
10 ounces fresh baby spinach, roughly chopped
3 lemons
Salt and pepper, to taste
1) Bring the pasta water to a boil and cook pasta according to package directions.
2) Saute minced garlic in olive oil for about 2 minutes – don’t overcook or the garlic becomes bitter when it turns brown. Add the tomatoes, and artichoke hearts and heat through. Be careful to not overcook – the tomatoes will burn really quickly.
3) In a bowl, zest 1/2 of one of the lemons and squeeze the juice from the lemons into the bowl. If you heat the lemons up for 15 seconds in a microwave they juice much easier and give a lot more juice – do this after you zest the one, though. Add the chopped cilantro and stir.
4) As soon as the pasta is ready, reserve one cup of the cooking water and drain. Toss with the spinach until you see the spinach begin to wilt. Toss in the sun-dried tomatoes, artichokes and garlic. Pour over the fresh lemon sauce, add reserved cooking liquid a little at a time and mix thoroughly. Season w/ salt and pepper to taste and serve with vegan Parmesan, if desired.
Adding the pasta cooking liquid is critical to most recipes – the Italians call it starch water – it thickens the sauce and gives it a nicer consistency – don’t use too much, never more than one cup – this applies to ANY sauce except tomato sauces.
Source of recipe: This is my recipe and one of our favorites. It is very light.