In the Kitchen: Spinach-and-Pasta In A Hurry

Tonight I planned to make risotto with spinach and porcini mushrooms. But husband came home and announced he was going to an evening event and had to leave early. Okay. No problem. Had a crap day and wanted to relax with the risotto, but truly, no problem. (Because why make a bad day worse?)

Made this instead. Think of it as a fake pasta carbonara. (In this case inspired by a recipe from Lynn Rossetto Kaspar's Italian Country Table

• 1 box frozen spinach
• a bit of diced red onion
• a bit of chopped garlic
• a quarter cup or so of grated romano and parmesan cheeses
• 2 eggs
• pasta (I used fusilli) (or however that's spelled)

I put on a pot of water to boil. Thawed the spinach in the microwave (isn't modern life amazing?). (Am not sure what's more amazing: the convenience of frozen spinach or the microwave.)

While I waited for the water to boil, I put the eggs, most of the cheese, and some salt and pepper in a bowl and mixed it with a fork. I heated some olive oil in a saute pan and added the onion and garlic. After about two minutes, I added the spinach and some salt, pepper, and dried pepper flakes and cooked it over medium-low heat for five or six minutes.

When the pasta was done, I tossed a quarter cup or so of its water in with the spinach and cooked it a minute. Added the pasta and tossed. Then added the eggs and cheese mixture and tossed gently and cooked it for a couple of minutes, just enough to cook the eggs.

Dished it up in a couple of bowls, sprinkled the rest of the cheese over it, poured some Shiraz. And the day's woes vanished. As did my husband not long after. Leaving me with the dishes. Hey! Life's not perfect.