"I want pasta for dinner"

"Mommy, I am hungry and I want pasta for dinner" These were the words spoken to me by my three-year-old one night.  I had to ask her again what she had said, was this really the same three-year-old that is super picky? the one that will clear her plate one night and turn her nose up at what I've made the next?  Now she's requesting things for dinner?! Like, something other than macaroni-and-cheese or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!  So I had to give it a try - and this is what I made :

Spinach and tomato sauce over ziti

I found the original recipe on Midwest Living, it called for arugula but all we had was spinach (which I prefer anyway).  I made a few other changes so you can either stick to the original recipe or go with mine, either way - get ready for a delish dinner!

Ingredients you'll need

• fresh tomatoes, cubed - seeds removed.
• 1 can crushed tomatoes (I only had one tomato so I used these to supplement)
• 4 cups spinach, rough chopped
• fresh garlic, as much - or as little - as you'd like.
• olive oil
• ziti

1. Bring water to boil in a large stock pot, and cook pasta to your liking.  Drain, leaving out a cup or so of the pasta water.  Set pasta aside in large bowl.
2. In large skillet heat a tablespoon or so of the olive oil and add the fresh garlic, I grate mine to avoid getting big chunks.  
3. Add the tomatoes to your skillet 
4. Once the fresh tomato was soft I then added the crushed tomatoes. (you can go with 4-6 fresh tomatoes and skip adding the canned but all I had was one fresh tomato so I added about half a 28oz can and that made a good amount of sauce).
5. Bring to a low simmer and as soon as the sauce starts to bubble add the spinach, the reserved pasta water, some salt and pepper to taste, stir and then cover.  Once the spinach has wilted down it's ready to go.
6. Serve over ziti and top with your favorite cheese.
7. Enjoy!

I was a little skeptical my daughter would like all this, especially the spinach, but that's what she went for first!  She completely cleared her dish!  My husband and I enjoyed it too, and it was so easy to make.  This was one of those nights where I was dreading dinnertime because I had no idea what to make, and very little ambition.  This recipe took me all of 30 minutes to make and was a good change-up from our usual meat/veggies/starch dinner.  It will definitely be going into our what's-for-dinner line-up, and hopefully yours too!