During the pandemic, food trends became incredibly popular, and tiktok was filled with people stuck at home, baking bread and experimenting in the kitchen. One of the creations that spread like wildfire was the feta pasta (Recipe to come soon!). I, as a consumer of TikTok, and a #1 lover of Trader Joe's knew I had to jump on this bandwagon immediately. And I gotta say, it was delicious! However, Trader Joe's has something else up their sleeve, which is its spinach artichoke dip that comes in a frozen block. I only learned of this when I ran into a worker at Trader Joe's, whom I credit for this recipe. After she directed me to the feta, she then said I should make this pasta but with the spinach artichoke dip. Ever since then, I have made this dish numerous times, and it's unbelievably delicious (even better than the feta pasta).
This recipe calls for three simple ingredients and a few spices. Because the spinach artichoke is so packed with flavor, it's not necessary to add anything more, unlike the feta pasta. Again, I have made this numerous times and it has become a comfort dish, and it's a quick and easy meal to make.
All we need for this dish is cherry tomatoes, spinach artichoke block (I have only used the Trader Joe's one), and pasta of your choice. You essentially can get all of these ingredients from Trader Joe's itself (can you tell yet how big of a fan I am :) ). Even though the pasta is packed with flavor, I do like it on the spicier side so I add a generous amount of red pepper flakes. With just a few ingredients and steps, bada bing bada boom, you've got yourself a yummy dish!
Spinach Artichoke Pasta
Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 45 mins
Ingredients:
1 bag (16 oz) Pasta (of your choice)
Spinach Artichoke block, frozen (Trader Joe's carries it in the freezer aisle)
30-40 Cherry Tomatoes
Olive oil, for drizzle
sprinkle of salt
sprinkle of pepper
sprinkle of red pepper flakes (optional)
french bread (optional for pairing)
Parmesan cheese
Steps:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Take a casserole dish, or an 11x17 dish and lightly spray with cooking spray.
Make sure the spinach artichoke block is frozen. Remove from the freezer and place in the middle of the dish.
Wash cherry tomatoes and place them around the block.
Drizzle lightly with olive oil, salt, pepper, and red chili flakes. Gently mix the tomatoes until all have been coated.
Cook the spinach block for up to 40 mins. Add 5 min increments if need be, until cherry tomatoes are soft and burst and the block has fully melted.
In the meantime, boil and cook the pasta and place on the side.
Once the dish has been cooked, remove it from the oven, and slowly press cherry tomatoes down, so all have burst. Mix everything together.
Slowly add the pasta to the dish and mix thoroughly
Top with parmesan cheese, or cheese of choice.
Bon Appetit!
Comments