Creamy Garlic Pasta With Greens

First thought: “Bless his heart”. Second: “What a good alternative to quick weeknight pasta w/oil and garlic.” I’d add another pan for oil, anchovies, greens and herbs. Dumping the almost-cooked pasta into that pan, swirling it around with some white wine and/or pasta water and finishing with the aoli wouldn’t add any time to this recipe; though it would add one minute to cleanup time.

Minor adjustments for my household--1 pound of pasta is far too much for 4 people, half a pound is more like it for good nutrition. I added more greens and previously home-cooked chickpeas to round out the nutrition and bulk up the dish. Absolutely delicious.

I might never look at a jar of mayonnaise the same. This was so simple and delicious. I might try adding some thyme or oregano from my window herb planter box to the aioli next time

Bless your heart, Drake! All those customizations sound great!

This was a delightful, foolproof method for a creamy, easy weeknight pasta that took very little time. Are there other, more traditional ways of achieving this texture? Sure. Am I going to do them on a Tuesday after work? Nope. So I really appreciated the cleverness of this shortcut. Had some big creamy white beans in the back of the fridge, so those went in and added nice body and texture as well. Looking forward to many more remixes of this one on many more tired weeknights.

I used frozen kale and threw it in the pot with the pasta for the last few minutes. Also threw in some black olives and mixed the sauce in (rather than using as a topping). Topped everything with shrimp (gambas al ajillo). Delicious and so easy, and everything out of the freezer or pantry.

You can use healthy olive oil in lieu of store bought mayonnaise (which isn’t healthy oils) and splash pasta water in - this will give you the creamy consistency. :)

I was surprised by how good this was as was expecting only so-so. But, it really was pretty delicious. I didn't add any extras. Only recommendation is to be sure to boil off the water as I had to pour the excess out of my bowl.

This was fantastic. Added mayo combined with Sriracha Horseradish. Yum.

Please, people, specify amount of lemon juice? Lemons vary a lot in size. "One lemon" can mean anywhere from 1 - 4 Tbps.

Last night - before I saw this recipe - I made a variation on the theme. Shallots, ramps, spinach and garlic cooked in olive oil, and instead of aoli, I used ricotta cheese. I added the pasta and the ricotta to the pan with the greens. Delicious.

For greens, used baby spinach and arugula. Sharpens the flavor.

Anybody have thoughts on swapping in Toum (often described as Lebanese garlic aioli) for the garlic mayo? Seems like it might be delicious. But also seems like it might have a different melting point where it all just turns to liquid.

Instead of mayo, try it with thick, tangy Greek yogurt, add a can of chickpeas, a healthy amount of dried mint, chopped fresh parsley and/or also some zaatar.

Super tasty! I find that the aioli gave the pasta a taste reminiscent of a light carbonara. It really balanced out the kale and made a well-rounded weeknight dish.