Jamie Oliver's Super Green Spaghetti Recipe on Food52 (2025)

FAQs

What is green spaghetti made of? ›

What is green spaghetti? Green spaghetti is a traditional Mexican pasta dish consisting of tender spaghetti enveloped in a rich poblano pepper sauce. When poblano peppers are roasted, they take on a deep, smoky flavor—the signature of this sauce.

Put a large pan of salted water on to boil, then drop in the leek and garlic cloves. Cook for 3 minutes, then add your cavolo nero, kale or cabbage. Cook for another 3 to 3½ minutes, but no more!

#1 Cooking al dente pasta

Chefs aim for the perfect al dente texture by cooking pasta until it's tender yet still slightly firm to the bite. They frequently taste-test the pasta during cooking to ensure it reaches the desired consistency, adjusting cooking times as needed.

Chef's tip: When you make fresh pasta, the ratio is always 1 egg and 100 grams of flour per person – so it's easy to scale this recipe up or down.

The amount of spinach added to the dough in order to make spinach pasta is minimal: it is used as food coloring not for nutritional purposes. Green pasta has a hint of a different flavor and a cheery color, but it's not nutritionally different from any other pasta.

Indulgent but healthy – The healthy green pasta sauce (made from blended spinach, cashews, garlic, nutritional yeast, and lemon juice) is the star of this dinner. Swap the pasta noodles for bean-based pasta or gluten-free pasta. Or serve over roasted potatoes or vegetables if you prefer.

Cavolo nero (pictured above) is a type of kale also known as black cabbage or Tuscan kale. It is non-hearting with long strap-like leaves similar to savoy cabbage in texture. It has a blue-green colour that cooks to an intense silver beet green.

Unlike cavolo nero or kale's curly, narrow leaves, collard greens' leaves are large, smooth, and flat. Known as spring greens in the UK, they're pretty much unloved and are far from receiving the same recognition as collard greens in the US.

Can I use cabbage instead of cavolo nero? ›

Alternatives to cavolo nero

Try cabbage or kale.

For the best spaghetti, cook it in salted water.

Pasta water should taste salty. I add a lot of salt to our pasta water (it makes the pasta taste delicious). I add about one tablespoon of salt for every four quarts (16 cups) of water, which is perfect for cooking one pound of pasta.

Boil the water (with salt and/or olive oil) in a large pan. Once boiling add the pasta and cook for 8-12 mins, depending on the shape – see above. Drain and leave to steam dry for a few mins, just until the surface of the pasta looks matte.