Last week, my son requested pasta with spinach sauce.  I hadn’t made it for him in a few years and wasn’t sure if I still had the recipe.  I decided that I would create my own recipe that was creamier than what I used to make.

To make this a multi-faceted recipe I made the base of the sauce similar to an alfredo.  This way anyone who didn’t want spinach in her sauce could have her portion set aside before the spinach was added.  Needless to say, this was a popular feature of this recipe for a certain 11 year old girl.

However, I had never made alfredo sauce from scratch before, so I did a little research as to the options for making it.  I noticed that recipes either started with lots of butter or were made with lots of heavy cream.  I decided to create a middle of the road recipe.  I started with a small amount of butter, made a roux, and used whole milk.  So, while this recipe wasn’t low fat, it wasn’t nearly as unhealthy as some of the recipes I had seen.

Everyone enjoyed this sauce in various forms.  My daughter had plain alfredo sauce on pasta, my son and husband had spinach alfredo on spaghetti, and I had spinach alfredo on asparagus (an even lighter way of enjoying the sauce).  Regardless to the manner in which it was served, we all enjoyed the combination of garlic, cheese, and creaminess.  I am sure we will be making it again.  However, next time we might try it without spinach but with broccoli or shrimp or chicken.

Spinach Alfredo

2014-11-28 16:11:25

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Ingredients

1. 2 Tb. butter
2. 1 garlic clove, minced
3. 3 Tb. flour
4. 2 cups whole milk
5. 1 packed cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated
6. 1/2 10-oz. pkg. frozen spinach, thawed and drained

Instructions

1. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic, stirring continuously for 2 minutes.
2. Add flour, and stir for another 2-3 minutes. Slowly add milk, and whisk to combine.
3. Continue to whisk until sauce thickens. Add parmesan, and whisk until smooth.
4. Add spinach, stir, and serve.

By TT

Think Tasty https://www.thinktasty.com/