Sun-dried tomato Pasta

Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 portions of pasta (fresh Trofie, as in the picture)

2 garlic cloves, finely diced

12 cherry tomatoes

large handful of spinach

salt

For the sauce

about 75g pine nuts

2 garlic cloves, crushed

olive oil

170g sun-dried tomatoes in oil, plus 3 tablespoons of the oil from the jar

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

8-10 tbsp water, depending on the consistency

Method:

Cook the pasta as per instructions.

While the pasta cooks make the sauce.

Place all the pine nuts in a large frying pan over a medium heat and toast them for 2-3 minutes. Once golden, remove from pan and place to one side. Place the pan back on the heat.

Add the crushed garlic to the pan and sauté it with a drizzle of olive oil for 2 minutes or so.

Place the sun dried tomatoes and the oil from the jar in a blender, along with the warmed garlic, lemon juice, two thirds of the toasted pine nuts, balsamic, water and a sparkling of salt and pepper. Pulse until it comes together to form a sauce - it should be a little chunky, but you can add a splash more water if you like it a little smoother.

Place the garlic in a frying pan with a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt and cook for a minute while you slice the cherry tomatoes in half. Add them to the pan and let them blister on a high heat for 2-3 minutes. Stir through the drained pasta with the sun-dried tomato sauce and spinach and cook for a final few minutes until the spinach wilts.

Serve with lots of pepper and the extra toasted pine nuts on top.