Spaghetti with Red Chard and Pearl Onions

A quick and easy, sauce less pasta, that is perfect to put together for a weeknight dinner.The red chard and pearl onions lend a very sweet and earthy flavor to the pasta and you cannot go wrong with a glass of deep red wine to go with it. Vegan and can be made Gluten Free.

Pasta has gotten added to my list of comfort food over the years. I make pasta for dinner at least once a week, if not more and there are many a days I crave for a nice spaghetti or penne, all through the day and cannot wait for it to be dinner time to make some. Of course, the added incentive of a glass of wine that is not to be missed with a pasta dinner also adds to the craving 😉

I always try to add more greens and leafy vegetable to our diet and I should say I have been pretty successful. Whether its a spinach and lentil curry, or simply mashed spinach seasoned with spices or a chard/spinach stir fry with coconut or just add some spinach or chard to pasta. It is not that tough to get greens incorporated in your diet, with just a little planning ahead.

The original plan was to have spaghetti with red chard and some shallots. But I had run out of shallots and had either these lovely red pearl onions or regular onions. I thought I’ll go with the pearl onions instead of the other onions. It was little bit of a work, to peel enough of them so that the flavor shows up with the chard, but it was well worth the extra effort! The simplicity of this pasta dish, where each ingredient was a star, is what I loved the most.

The chard also give a nice little red tinge to the spaghetti and makes it look pretty along with the pasta tasting so delicious.

Spaghetti with Red Chard and Pearl Onions – The Recipe

• 12-14 oz Whole Grain Spaghetti (or use Spelt or Brown Rice or Quinoa Spaghetti to make it Gluten Free)
• 5 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup pearl onions, peeled
• 2 bunches red chard, washed
• 4 garlic cloves
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add the spaghetti to it and cook al dente. Drain, toss a little olive oil to keep it from drying out and keep aside.

Quarter each pearl onion and keep aside. Cut the stems off the chard, Roll up the leaves together and chiffonade them. Heat the remaining olive oil in a deep skillet. Add the garlic to it. Before the garlic turns brown add the pearl onions to it. Add the chard as well and throw in the salt and pepper too.

Stir fry till the greens wilt. Add the pasta to this and mix well. Serve hot.