Description
This creamy tahini pasta is tossed with sun-dried tomatoes, fresh spinach, and coated in a tangy tahini lemon sauce.
Ingredients
8 ounces (225 g) pasta
1/3 cup (82 g) tahini, stir before measuring
1/3 cup water
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 garlic cloves
2 teaspoon maple syrup
2 teaspoons nutritional yeast
Pinch of crushed red pepper
Pinch of fresh cracked black pepper
A handful of fresh spinach (or shredded kale)
1/2 cup (50 g) sliced sun-dried tomatoes
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to the package instructions in salted water, I use 1/2 tablespoon of salt.
- While the pasta is cooking, blend the tahini, 1/3 cup water, lemon juice, garlic, maple syrup, nutritional yeast, crushed red pepper, and black pepper until smooth in a blender.
- When the pasta is cooked, reserve 1 cup of the salted pasta water. Then drain the cooked pasta.
- Add the drained pasta back to the pot with the tahini sauce, sun-dried tomatoes, and spinach (or finely sliced kale). Turn the burner on low and start by adding a 1/4 cup of the cooking water to thin out the tahini sauce and coat the pasta. Stir frequently for the greens to wilt and the tahini and cooking water to emulsify and become creamy. Add more pasta cooking water if needed. You may not need all of the cooking water, only use as much as you need to create a creamy sauce and coat the pasta. I tend to need about 1/2 cup of pasta cooking water. The longer the pasta sits on the stove the more it dries out.
- Once the greens are wilted and the sauce is warmed through and coats the pasta, taste and adjust for salt if needed. Then serve.
Notes
I don’t salt the tahini sauce because I salt the pasta water. If you don’t salt the pasta cooking water, then you’ll want to salt the tahini sauce.
If you whisk the sauce instead of blending, then crush or mince the fresh garlic, then whisk in all of the ingredients besides the water. The tahini will probably seize up once you add the lemon juice, that’s when you’ll whisk in 1/3 cup of ice-cold water to the tahini sauce. Keep whisking to get a smooth sauce. There’s no need to use ice-cold water if you’re blending the sauce in a blender.
If using sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, drain if needed. If you’re using dry-packed, they may need to be rehydrated since they are firmer than oil-packed. It depends on the brand, so if your sun-dried tomatoes are rubbery and not soft they may need to be rehydrated.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 14 minutes
- Category: main course
- Method: stovetop
- Cuisine: american
Keywords: tahini pasta, lemon tahini pasta