Fusilli w/Pecorino-Romano & Black Pepper

Like many kids, mine love pasta! It is on our menu once a week, and I try to make it with different sauces and cheese. One day, while watching food network I came across this recipe which turned out to be super delicious. It has a lot of spinach in it and my kids won't even notice it as it blends in well with the pasta. I use Mascarpone cheese quite a bit because it helps make any sauce creamy adding just the perfect amount of texture to all the sauce to stick to the pasta. The best part of this dish is that you can serve this pasta hot or at a room temperature, so it can act as a pasta salad as well.

This Recipe serves 2-3 people.

Ingredients:

• Kosher salt
• 1 pound Fusilli pasta
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, lightly crushed chopped
• 5 cups fresh baby spinach leaves 
• 1 1/2 cups grated Pecorino Romano cheese 
• 1 cup mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
• 2 tsps each of salt and pepper

Method:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender but still firm to the bite -about 8 to 10 minutes. Reserve 3/4 cup of the cooking liquid, then drain the pasta.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large, high-sided skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until lightly browned - about 2 minutes. Remove the garlic and discard. Add the spinach and 2 teaspoons pepper, and cook until the spinach has wilted - about 1 minute.

Remove the skillet from the heat and add the pasta. Add the Pecorino Romano cheese and 2 teaspoons each salt and pepper, and toss until coated.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the reserved cooking liquid and the mascarpone cheese until smooth. Pour over the pasta and toss until coated. Season with salt.