Chipotle Hummus Pasta with Spinach and Mushrooms

Lots of people eat black-eyed peas at New Year's for good luck. That's isn't me, but since we had black eyed peas and all of the other ingredients on hand, I decided to make this spicy chipotle hummus this first week of January. I ate the hummus with veggies and chips (and some cheese!) a few days for lunch.

But then I wanted something different. So I invented this chipotle hummus pasta with spinach and mushrooms based on a recipe I'd see from Budget Bytes.

Creamy, yet spicy sauce, wilted spinach, and umami flavor from the mushrooms? Yes, please! This is really a "use up leftovers" meal, too, so any other type of wilting greens (chard, cabbage, etc.) and vegetables could be used. I personally think a cabbage and mixed vegetable version could be good with the chipotle hummus flavor. (Other flavors of hummus could also be used). Ingredients here could be increased as needed, but the proportions seem to work well.

Ingredients:

1/2 c pasta of choice (I used elbow macaroni)
2 c mushrooms, sliced
3 c baby spinach
1/2 c hummus of choice (I used chipotle black-eyed pea hummus.)
Reserved pasta water

Directions:

1. Bring 2 c. water to a boil in a large sauce pan.
2. Once water boils, add pasta and cook as directed, adding mushrooms for the last five minutes.
3. Once the pasta and mushrooms have cooked, drain the pasta, reserving the pasta water.
4. Return the pasta and mushrooms to the pot. Add the spinach and a little pasta water and stir over medium heat until the spinach wilts.
5. Once the spinach has wilted, stir in the hummus and additional pasta water until a nice cream sauce forms.

Dish up and enjoy piping hot!