I like pasta. A lot. As you can probably tell by my recipe page! With all of the miles I’m putting in while training for my half marathon (next weekend!), I have been eating pasta even more than usual. I started to get sick of my usual go-to dishes so I searched online for something new and different. Now this recipe is added to my go-to repertoire. It is SUPER easy (took about 15 minutes total to make) and tastes incredible! Not to mention you can get in a good does of dark greens. I changed this recipe a little, taking out the lemon zest and substituting spinach for kale.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
-3 cloves garlic, peeled
-1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
-2 tblspns harissa
-8 ounces whole wheat spaghetti
-1 bunch fresh baby spinach, washed
-1/2 cup oil-cured black olives, pitted
– 1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted (heated over a dry sauté pan for 4-5 minutes on medium heat, stirring constantly)
-Sea salt

Directions:
-Bring a big pot of water to a boil for the pasta.
-While water is boiling place the garlic on a cutting board and sprinkle with a big pinch of sea salt.
-Crush with the flat side of a knife and then chop- repeat until you have a garlic paste
-In a bowl mix the garlic paste, harissa, and olive oil and set aside.
-Once the water is boiling, salt it and add the pasta. Cook per package instructions.
-Just before the pasta is done add the spinach to the pasta water
-Count to ten, drain the entire pot and set aside.
-Heat half of the harissa mixture in the empty pasta pot
-Add the pasta and kale, black olives, and pine nuts back in with the sauce.
-Stir over the heat for a minute or so, then serve on a platter.
-Drizzle with the remaining harissa mix.