The first time I made this recipe was for North Dakota. I made it ahead of time as a side and figured that we could just heat it up when we were ready to eat. Well as it turns out, I liked it even better when I had it up there than when I tasted it while I was cooking! Sitting overnight really lets the flavors meld and come together. When things come out as good as this, my family really doesn’t mind being guinea pigs. And I can always tell a recipe is a winner when I see people heat up the leftovers from the fridge as a mid-afternoon snack later in the hunting trip.
Acini de Pepi are those little tiny balls of pasta you see in the box (and if you are like me) wonder what on earth do you make with those. Well this recipe is your answer. I add them to garlic, scallions, spinach and tomato basil feta cheese. The rest is a flavorful, fresh pasta side dish that you can eat hot or cold.
Here’s what you need:
Start with your mis en place and get all your prep work done. I roughly chopped that entire 6 oz bag of spinach you see in the ingredient photo. I also chopped sundried tomatoes, minced garlic, and sliced scallions.
Cook the acini de pepi according to package directions and drain but do not rinse. Meanwhile start the goodies that go into the pasta.
Melt some butter with a little oil from the sundried tomato jar in a 12 inch skillet over medium heat.
Add the scallions, garlic, and some red pepper flakes. Cook for about 1-2 minutes until the garlic is fragrant–you don’t want the garlic to burn.
Add the sundried tomatoes.
As soon as those are stirred in, add in the spinach. You might need to add in 2 batches if it mounds too high.
It will wilt down quickly, in about 2 minutes it should look like this.
Now add in the pasta as well as the entire package of that tomato basil feta cheese. If you can’t find that flavor regular feta works too or if another flavor sounds good, go for it..
Gently (so as not to toss it all over your stove) stir everything together.
Taste and season with salt if needed.
Serve immediately, at room temperature or refrigerate and serve warmed up or cold the next day.
Oh, and if you are interested in the steaks from the top of the page, I will be posting those next week.
- ½ lb acini di pepe pasta
- 1 T oil from sundried tomato jar
- 2 T butter
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- Pinch red pepper flakes
- 4 scallions, chopped
- ⅓ c sundried tomatoes, chopped
- 6 oz bag of spinach, chopped
- 4 oz tomato basil flavor feta cheese (regular is fine if you can’t find it or another flavor)
- Salt, to taste
- Cook pasta according to package directions, drain but do not rinse.
- Meanwhile, heat oil and butter in a 12 inch skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, red pepper flakes, and scallions and cook about 1-2 minutes until the garlic is fragrant. Stir in sundried tomatoes.
- Add spinach and cook until wilted about 2 minutes.
- Add pasta to skillet along with feta cheese.
- Stir until well combined.
- Taste and season with salt if needed.
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