Creamy Goat Cheese and Spinach Linguine

5 from 3 votes

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A handful ingredients on a crappy cold night when I could not make it out to the store turned into one of the most spectacular pastas.

Creamy Goat Cheese and Spinach Linguine / Photo by Kerri Brewer / Katie Workman / themom100.com
Creamy Goat Cheese and Spinach Linguine piled onto a plate.

A handful ingredients on a crappy cold night when I could not make it out to the store turned into one of the most spectacular pastas.

Goat Cheese Sauce

I love how goat cheese mixed with some hot liquid—be it broth, pasta cooking water, or otherwise—almost instantly turns into a creamy sauce. You can use this technique in all kinds of ways.

Chicken on a bed of Creamy Goat Cheese and Spinach Linguine.

In Dinner Solved!, this technique features in a zucchini and mushroom enchilada. And I made this Hot, Creamy Spinach and Goat Cheese Dip 7 times in three months over the holidays—that’s how good THAT is. And this one—Rosy Hot Goat Cheese and Sundried Tomato Dip. Another keeper.

Add-Ins for Goat Cheese Pasta

Back to the pasta. You can serve it as a first course, a main course, or top it with some sautéed chicken or shrimp for a larger (obviously non-vegetarian) dinner. The spinach in the pasta sauce adds such nice color, and of course nutrition. Use baby kale or slivered chard if you prefer.

  Serve it up with Romaine and Slivered Kale Salad with Lemon Dressing or Fennel and Endive Salad or one of these 3 Great and Really Simple Green Salads.

Plate of Creamy Goat Cheese and Spinach Linguine next to a plate of salad.

A handful ingredients on a crappy cold night when I could not make it out to the store turned into one of the most spectacular pastas.

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And because one can never, ever have too many quick and easy weeknight pastas:

Creamy Goat Cheese and Spinach Linguine topped with a chicken breast.

More Goat Cheese Recipes!

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5 from 3 votes

Creamy Goat Cheese and Spinach Linguine

A handful ingredients on a crappy cold night when I could not make it out to the store turned into one of the most spectacular pastas.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes
Total Time: 27 minutes
Servings: 4 People

Ingredients 

  • 1 pound dried fine linguine or other
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 onions finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
  • 5 cups baby spinach roughly chopped
  • Coarse or kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
  • 8 ounces soft fresh goat cheese
  • ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
  • Red pepper flakes to taste

Instructions 

  • Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté for 5 minutes until tender and lightly golden. Add the garlic and sauté for another minute. Add the spinach, in batches if necessary, stirring just until it slightly wilts. Season with salt and pepper.
  • Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Salt the water (but don’t over salt it, as you will be using some of the cooking water to make the sauce) and return to a boil. Cook the pasta according to package directions. Before draining the pasta reserve 1 1/2 cups of the cooking water. Return the pasta to the pot and add the goat cheese, Parmesan and the water, and stir until the cheeses melt and combine with 1 cup of the water to form a sauce. Season with red pepper flakes, and again with salt and pepper, if needed, then add the spinach mixture and stir to combine. Add as much of the remaining half cup of water as you like to loosen up the sauce (it will absorb into the pasta quickly, so make it a little moister than you might think).
  • Serve quickly and serve hot, to high acclaim.

Notes

I love how goat cheese mixed with some hot liquid—be it broth, pasta cooking water, or otherwise—almost instantly turns into a creamy sauce.  You can use this technique in all kinds of ways.

Nutrition

Serving: 4g, Calories: 718kcal, Carbohydrates: 92g, Protein: 32g, Fat: 24g, Saturated Fat: 12g, Cholesterol: 37mg, Sodium: 439mg, Potassium: 573mg, Fiber: 5g, Sugar: 6g, Vitamin A: 4210IU, Vitamin C: 15mg, Calcium: 292mg, Iron: 4mg
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About Katie Workman

Katie Workman is a cook, a writer, a mother of two, an activist in hunger issues, and an enthusiastic advocate for family meals, which is the inspiration behind her two beloved cookbooks, Dinner Solved! and The Mom 100 Cookbook.

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