Roasted Red Pepper Hummus Pasta

This dinner came about because I had waited too long to bring the kids in from playing outside and had just a few minutes to get dinner together before we needed to head upstairs for baths. I'm not sure about everyone else's kids, but mine have the ability to go from being completely clean to be covered in many layers of dirt and black asphalt grime in no time at all. Nightly baths are non-negotiables in our house, obviously. But it's so hard for me to bring the kids inside early now that the sun has come out and it's so warm all day!

I had actually been meaning to make hummus for snacks for a while and hadn't gotten around to it, but this was the perfect reason to finally make it. I put half in the fridge for snacking with crackers and carrots and used the other half to make this dinner.

I used this red pepper hummus recipe from Food Network and added just a few basic pantry ingredients, along with some spinach I found in the fridge to put this together. It was so simple to make and made for a great leftover meal too! Pasta is always a win with everyone in our house so this one will be making it into our regular meal plan for sure, especially because there are minimal ingredients that fit easily into Hudson's rotation diet.

Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes Serves: 4

INGREDIENTS

1 lb gluten-free Fusilli pasta (I use Jovial and love it)

1 cup red pepper hummus

1 1/2 cups packed chopped spinach

1/2 medium yellow onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tbsp lemon juice

1 Tbsp avocado oil

1/2 tsp + a pinch of salt

pinch of pepper

red pepper flakes (for garnish)

reserved cooked pasta water

1. Add 1/2 tsp salt to a pot of water and bring to a boil. When water is boiling, add pasta to the pot and cook for 1-2 minutes less than the time indicated on cooking instructions (it will finish cooking when it is added to the pan with the sauce). Reserve cooked pasta water.

2. While the pasta is cooking, add avocado oil to large pan over medium heat. Add diced onions, pinch of salt and pepper, and cook for 3-4 minutes, until onions are translucent. Add garlic towards the end to prevent burning. Sauté until fragrant.

3. Add spinach to pan until and cook until it begins to wilt. Then add hummus and lemon juice to pan and stir to combine with onions and garlic.

4. After sauce is heated through, add reserved pasta water 1/4 cup at a time until the sauce loosens up and is pourable (I used about 1 cup of water total). The sauce will quickly thicken as it begins to cool, so add a bit more water than it looks like you might need while it is still hot in the pan.

5. Add cooked pasta to the sauce pan and stir until the sauce coats the pasta well and the pasta finishes cooking through.

6. Serve and garnish with red pepper flakes for a little heat if desired.

Recipe Notes:

1. You can substitute any gluten-free pasta for the Fusilli. I made this again with a chickpea pasta and it also turned out great. I have found that Jovial makes the best quality gluten-free pasta. It has a texture most similar to wheat pasta and does not get gummy when cooked or reheated.

2. You can substitute the gluten-free pasta with wheat pasta if there are no allergies.

3. Any type/flavor of hummus can be used..

4. The pasta reheats well in a microwave or on the stove-top. Add a splash of water or broth prior to heating to help the sauce loosen up again.