20 Minute Spicy Garlic Spinach Pasta with Chickpeas.

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Today is theeeee day that we need something super non-holidayish. You know?

And I don’t ONLY want a salad. Or, like, four of them. Because that’s probably what I need after multiple Thanksgivings the past few days. I mean, pasta with chickpeas can work though. I think so.

Enter this dish. It’s SUPER easy. Like embarrassingly easy. Like you’re going to be horrified that I posted something so simple!

But but but.

It’s also super delicious and embarrassingly tasty. It’s spicy and slightly cheesy and has tons of spinach (hello health!) and some chickpeas too for extra staying power. It’s full of flavor and can come together in, like, 15 minutes.

Seriously, the worst part here is going to be waiting for your water to boil. That will take longer than making the recipe!

You can totally cook your spinach and garlic while the water is coming to a boil so you’re doing, well, something while waiting. Especially if you’re insanely impatient like me. I always watch the pot until it boils, like COME ON.

You’d have thought that I’d grow out of this by now. I HAVE NOT.

Caps lock necessary.

This also reheats pretty well for a spinach-y pasta dish and if you don’t mind reheated pasta (no Italian blood in my body, so I don’t!), you can prep this for the week ahead. I have eaten it for lunch multiple times and before I had Emilia, actually – I think I ate it for two straight weeks! I just kept making it over and over and over.

AND. If you have a crazy meat eater in your house like I do, you can obviously add chicken or shrimp or something. No biggie!

I created this dish with December in mind, because I have all sorts of crazy holiday meals coming up, tons of cocktails, lots of treats too – and wanted something fairly healthier but something hearty so I wouldn’t go on a midnight cookie binge.

Think this seals the deal!

20 Minute Spicy Garlic Spinach Pasta with Chickpeas

Yield: 4

Total Time: 20 minutes mins

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4.94 from 163 votes

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Ingredients

• 8 ounces ditalini pasta cooked al dente
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 4 garlic cloves minced
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes plus extra for sprinkling
• 12 ounces fresh baby spinach
• pinch of salt and pepper
• 1 14-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1/3 cup freshly grated pecorino romano cheese plus extra for topping

Instructions 

• Bring a pot of salted water to a boil to prepare the pasta. Cook it according to the directions on the pasta.
• While waiting on the pasta, heat a large skillet over medium-low heat and add the olive oil and butter. Stir in the garlic cloves and the red pepper flakes. Cook for 30 seconds or so, until the garlic is fragrant. Add in the spinach with a pinch of salt and pepper and stir, cooking until it wilts. Stir in the chickpeas.
• Stir in the cooked pasta and the 1/3 cup of cheese until combined. Serve immediately with extra red pepper flakes and grated cheese.

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

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p.s. it’s reeeeeally good cold too!