Creamy Garlic Pasta With Greens

By Christian Reynoso

Published April 4, 2024

Creamy Garlic Pasta With Greens
Johnny Miller for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Rebecca Jurkevich.
Total Time
20 minutes
Prep Time
5 minutes
Cook Time
15 minutes
Rating
4(656)
Comments
Read comments

In this 20-minute weeknight pasta, one of the tastiest, most versatile sauces, aioli (or garlic mayonnaise) is dolloped over a simple bowl of spaghetti tossed with wilted greens. With hardly any cooking and minimal knifework, this one-pot dish starts out by simply cooking the pasta. Meanwhile, a quick aioli is whipped up by stirring garlic, lemon and a little olive oil into store-bought mayonnaise. You’ll generously spoon that shortcut aioli over the pasta, coating each noodle with its rich and fresh garlicky bite. (Leftover aioli can be saved for later use throughout the week.) Serve this pasta with sausages and peppers or a rotisserie chicken.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • 1pound spaghetti
  • Salt and black pepper 
  • ¾cup mayonnaise
  • 1lemon
  • 3large cloves garlic
  • 2tablespoons olive oil
  • 8 to 10ounces baby or pre-cut cooking greens (such as kale, chard, spinach or collard greens) 
  • Crushed red pepper, optional
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

814 calories; 42 grams fat; 6 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 14 grams monounsaturated fat; 22 grams polyunsaturated fat; 92 grams carbohydrates; 7 grams dietary fiber; 4 grams sugars; 17 grams protein; 588 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Cook pasta according to package instructions in a Dutch oven or large pot of salted boiling water until al dente. Reserve 1 cup pasta water and drain pasta.

  2. Step 2

    While the pasta is cooking, make the aioli: Add the mayonnaise to a bowl. Finely grate the lemon zest over, then cut the lemon in half and juice half of the lemon into the bowl. (Reserve the remaining lemon half for another use.) Finely grate the garlic into the bowl, add the olive oil and whisk together until smooth.

  3. Step 3

    After the pasta has been drained but is still hot, add the greens to the same pot and pour ½ cup pasta water over, toss with tongs to lightly wilt greens. Add the pasta and season with salt, black pepper and crushed red pepper, if using. Toss again and add the remaining ½ cup reserved pasta water, if you’d like, to create a light sauce.

  4. Step 4

    Transfer to serving bowls or plates. Serve warm with a generous dollop of the aioli spooned over the pasta. Add more black pepper, if desired. Swirl the pasta and greens into the aioli to coat each bite as you eat.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
656 user ratings
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Comments

Drake Baer

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.

BJ

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.

Jo the cook

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

Ann S

I made half and added about 5 oz. of chorizo. Sauteed the chorizo, then wilted the chard at the last minute. I really liked the aioli, and added a dollop of goat cheese, just because we had it. Used green garlic since it's that season. This might qualify as so many changes that it doesn't count as a review, but maybe it's just some hopefully helpful suggestions! I'd been looking for a recipe from chow.com (RIP) for a chard/chorizo pasta, and came across this.

Judys

This is really good! I used curly artisan foraged mushroom/herb pasta. Half the recipe for just us, but only about 1/4 c. mayo in the aioli. Used green garlic from the garden. Next time I’ll lightly sauté the garlic before adding spinach and proceeding with recipe, and leave it out of the aioli, as raw garlic was a little harsh. Added about half the aioli to the pasta and tossed to make it creamy, saved the rest. Was nice.

Ruby Valdez

I added Parmesan before the garlic cream, and this pasta turned out to be incredibly easy to make and absolutely delicious. I really enjoyed preparing it for myself and my daughter.

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