Spaghetti With Creamy Spinach And Tarragon

1. 1

   Remove any tough stems from the spinach. In a large frying pan, melt the butter over moderately low heat. Add the scallions and tarragon and cook for 2 minutes. Add the spinach and salt and stir until wilted. Simmer until the liquid evaporates from the spinach, about 5 minutes.

2. 2

   In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the spaghetti until just done, about 12 minutes. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water. Drain the spaghetti and toss with 3/4 cup of the reserved pasta water, the spinach mixture, the cream cheese, parsley, Parmesan, and pepper. If the sauce seems too thick, add more of the reserved pasta water.

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   Spinach Options: You can buy fresh spinach in various forms, depending on how hard you want to work.: Salad bar: Weigh out 10 ounces of spinach from your supermarket's salad bar, and you're ready to cook--no rinsing or stem removal required.: Prewashed bags: Supermarkets carry 10-ounce bags of spinach. This has been cleaned of all visible sand, but we would still give it one final rinse before cooking.: Bunches of fresh spinach: You will need 1 1/2 pounds to equal 10 ounces of packaged cleaned spinach. Remove the stems and then wash the leaves several times to get rid of the grit.

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   Wine Recommendation: Chenin blanc grapes make a wine that is fruity but bursting with acidity--an excellent match for tarragon. Try either a bottle of Vouvray from France or one of chenin blanc from California.

* Per serving · 4 servings · Values may vary.