HIGH-PROTEIN HERBY SPRINGTIME PASTA

your weeknight pesto just got a protein upgrade (plus, the Sephora sale and another announcement)

Hello, from Brooklyn! We are so back, baby :) …

Hope you have been having a wonderful week. I am thrilled to be back home and staying put for the foreseeable future. This month involves heads down Lineup mode mixed with some private chef work and recipe development. Never a dull moment over here! My sister gets married next month (yay!) , so that is the other big thing we have on the horizon.

We’ve been working super hard to bring you more consistent recipe-driven content, and this week’s recipe is a classic. I first developed this recipe for the Today Show (fun fact: if you search my name and the Today Show I have developed literally over one hundred recipes on their site). This one is a favorite. It is such a great way to use up extra herbs you have lying around that are starting to look a little sad and has an unexpected sweet garnish: dates! (can you sense a theme around my love of dates? lol).

Since cottage cheese is all the rage on the internet, I thought it would be fun to take the recipe and add in some cottage cheese for a little protein kick. Below, you can find the recipe and then next week we’ll get into my Sephora sale picks (let’s just pretend the economy is in great shape and blissfully purchase more makeup) and we can talk about the relaunch of my YouTube series - Make it Into a Cookie! So stay tuned :)

high-protein herby green pasta with pistachios and dates

serves: 4 people

ingredients:

for the sauce:

• 6 cups baby spinach

• 3 cups picked fresh soft-herbs (such as basil, mint, dill, parsley, or chives)

• 1 medium garlic clove

• 2 lemons, zested and juiced

• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

• 1 cup cottage cheese (preferably Good Culture)

• kosher salt

• freshly ground black pepper

for the pasta:

• 1 pound dried rigatoni

• 8-10 medjool dates, pitted and thinly sliced, for garnish

• 1 cup grated parmigiano reggiano cheese, for garnish

• 1/4 cup toasted pistachios, finely chopped, for garnish

• 1/4 cup chive batons, for garnish

method:

1. make the sauce: Combine all ingredients in a high-speed blender, using the tamp to move around the ingredients until well-blended and smooth. Adjust seasoning to taste.

2. cook the pasta: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, heavily season with salt so it tastes like the sea. Add in the pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, according to the package instructions until the pasta reaches al dente. Drain, reserving 1 cup of pasta water for the sauce.

3. Toss the pasta in the sauce, adding a splash of pasta water, stirring in between to make sure sauce sticks to the pasta. Garnish with dates, parm, pistachios and chives and enjoy!

I hope you love this recipe as much as I do. It is seriously addicting. Heading out to a pal’s bday tonight. Aries szn is here and we are loving it!!! Talk soon.

xx, Elena

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