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Spinach Pesto Linguine

A pasta dish combining spinach pesto, linguine, snap peas, chicken, feta, olives, and garlic.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Spinach and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,435 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Spinach Pesto Linguine

3–5

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Lightly sauté the garlic in a pan until it is no longer biting but not fully cooked.

  2. Chop the garlic in a food processor, then add the spinach bit by bit. When the garlic and spinach are mixed, add olive oil and mix. Put into a bowl and set aside.

  3. Strip the snap peas of stringy bits and hard ends, and place them aside in a bowl.

Cook the pasta, meat and peas

  1. Bring water to a boil on the stove at medium heat. Cook the chicken on a grill at medium heat, adding a bit of olive oil to each side to prevent sticking. When the meat is about a quarter done, ensure the water is boiling. Add linguine to the boiling water, adding a bit of olive oil if desired.

  2. While the pasta and meat cook, warm the snap peas in a small frying pan with olive oil over low‑medium heat.

Assemble and serve

  1. When the pasta and meat are cooked, slice the chicken into strips (or leave steak/salmon in fillet form). Strain the pasta, then heat it in a frying pan with some pesto. Keep the heat low to avoid crisping the pasta. Plate the pasta and top with feta and olives.

  2. Arrange the snap peas and meat strips on top, and serve.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

901Calories
86 gProtein
55 gFat
9 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Beef100g cooked250
Salmon100g cooked208
Chicken100g cooked165
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Feta Cheese1 oz (28g) cheddar113
Bell Pepper1 medium (119g)31
Spinach1 cup raw (30g)7
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Olive1 large (4g)4

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Spinach + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,435 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  2. Garlic + olivetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,665 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  3. Spinach + olivetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,971 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

  4. Olive + feta cheesetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,482 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (apple, fatty).

  5. Garlic + chickentop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,850 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine (roasted, nutty).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Garlic
Adds pungent aroma that mellows and sweetens as it cooks gently.
Spinach
Adds green colour, earthy flavour and moisture to the pesto.
Olive oil
Carries flavour and adds fat, helping the pesto bind and coat the pasta.
Feta cheese
Adds salty, tangy flavour and a crumbly texture over the hot pasta.
Linguine
Provides the starchy base that holds the pesto and sauce together.

The step that matters

Keep the heat low when reheating the pasta with pesto. High heat can dry out the pasta and cause the pesto's oil and garlic to scorch and turn bitter, so gentle warming keeps the sauce glossy and flavourful.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (spinach, garlic, olive, feta cheese, peas, chicken):

  1. Cuminfits better
  2. Oreganofits better
  3. Thymefits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against spinach, garlic, olive, feta cheese, peas, chicken. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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