Pasta with Mustard Sauce

Creativity - its the cornerstone of any good meal.  At least of many of my meals.  When I am feeling creative, that is.

You see, I don't draw.  In fact I can't draw.  Or paint.  I don't scrapbook, knit or cross stitch.  Instead I cook.  I create recipes.  I re-create recipes.  I even use creativity in my menu planning.

Whatever that particular day I pull out of my hat to do, cooking is my creativity.  That being said, I love to create recipes, or take recipes as inspiration and change them up so they are more "mine."  And I really thought a lovely pasta with mustard sauce would be a nice light meal on a hot day.  So I did some research, found a template, and set out to create the recipe you see below.

The picture you see above, it is not of my pasta.  We were ready to eat it and didn't get around to taking a photo.  So I found a pretty photo for you to look at while I talk.  I really enjoyed this sauce.  It was soft and mellow with a back taste of the mustard.  I think it would be wonderful on fish or chicken too!  Let me know if you try it!

Pasta with Mustard Sauce

8 oz fresh spinach, chopped or torn
1 c cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
1/4 cup spicy mustard
2 T champagne vinegar
1/4 cup white wine
2 T olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 lb pasta (any type, but a delicate angel hair would be nice with this sauce)
salt and pepper

Slice tomatoes and place them and the spinach into colander.  Place in the sink.  

Whisk mustard, vinegar and wine together.  Add 2 T olive oil and whisk to blend.  Heat 2 t olive oil in a skillet.  Add garlic, salt and pepper and saute until soft, about 2 minutes.  Add mustard mixture and bring to slow simmer.  Simmer until reduced by half.

In the meantime cook the pasta in boiling water until al dente, about 7 minutes.  Drain the pasta into the colander over the spinach and tomatoes.  Put in a large bowl and toss with the mustard sauce.

***  If you want to add meat to this dish, chopped chicken breast or shrimp would work great.  Add 1/2-1 lb meat to the mustard mixture in the skillet and cook through.  Feel free to double the sauce ingredients to make up for the addition of the meat.