Never in my life would I have imagined mayo as pasta sauce…but when it’s aioli it sounds more normal. It doesn’t seeeem like a mayonnaise sauce. It just seems like a sauce. But I know that the phrase “pasta with mayonnaise sauce” will freak out most people so do what I did and tell your dinner guests you’ll be serving pasta with a creamy garlic sauce. They’ll be none the wiser and clear two plates each like my crew. Another warning: this is GARLICKY garlic pasta. If you don’t like that flavor, this ain’t for you. We love garlic; we loved this pasta.
Cook a long pasta (I used Trader Joe’s spinach and chive linguine) according to package directions in a large pot. While the pasta is cooking, make the aioli in a small mixing bowl: 3/4 c. mayonnaise, zest of 1 lemon plus the juice from half of it, 3 large cloves of grated garlic into the bowl, 2 tbsp olive oil. Whisk it together and return your attention to the pasta. When the pasta is done, pull out 1 c. of pasta water and drain the rest, setting the noodles aside (in what you’ll later use as your serving bowl). Add a package of washed greens to the same pot along with half of the reserved pasta water, tossing as the greens wilt. (I found a great mix of kale, chard, and spinach at Trader Joe’s. You can use any blend you want or even prep your own from the farmers market, but I suggest some sort of bagged situation because it means you can do this whole meal in under 20 min.) Add the pasta back to the pot and season with salt, black pepper and crushed red pepper. Toss everything again to distribute the greens and add enough of the remaining pasta water to keep things from getting too sticky. The more pasta water you add here, the thinner your overall sauce will be in a minute. Put the pasta mixture back in that serving bowl and pour the aioli over the top. Toss again like you’re Glinda explaining how to be popular.
This spinach and chive pasta is by no means necessary, but it was the perfect choice because those chives work so well with the heavy garlic sauce. It basically just turns up the volume on the already strong flavor. I can’t fully explain why, but this pasta is all too easy to twirl on your fork and eat nonstop. Between the greens and the garlic, this pasta has BITE. But you know what? So do I.
Peaches to Apples 