Jamie's Tomato, Spinach & Olive Fusilli with Fresh Oregano & Cheese

Knowing this was the "chef inspired" meal in the first Hello Fresh box, I was really excited to try it. It had all my favorites - pasta, tomatoes, cheese - how could it go wrong?   But to be honest, this one fell flat. 

The ingredients included a bag of spinach, some whole wheat fusilli pasta,  a red onion, two packages of black olives, a can of peeled tomatoes, a packet of parmesan cheese, two small bottles of balsamic vinegar and fresh oregano.  

There was nothing lacking, but nothing special.  But it was a simple enough meal to prepare.  The recipe card told me this was a vegetarian, healthy meal that is nut-free and should only take 25 minutes to prepare. 

 First step,  start the pasta water boiling.  Then prep the veggies, picking the leaves off the oregano and chopping the olives and onion.

Heat up some olive oil (not included) in a skillet over medium heat.  Toss in the olives, oregano and onion.  Let those cook down for about ten minutes.  Then add in the vinegar.  This was strange to me.  Two bottles of balsamic were included in my box, but only one-half of a bottle was needed.   I just saved the rest; thought it would work well for salad dressings for lunch later in the week.   After the vinegar cooks down a bit, add in the tomatoes and some water.   You have to crush the tomatoes with the back of your spoon - would have been simpler to just include a can of crushed tomatoes.  Instead, I tried to smash the tomatoes and splashed them all over my shirt.

The sauce cooks down for ten minutes.  So that's a good time to start the pasta.  After tossing the fusilli in the boiling water, I went to change shirts.



Throw the spinach into a serving bowl and drain the cooked pasta.  The recipe recommends hanging on to a cup of the cooking water to thin out the sauce later, if needed.  I didn't need it.

Then toss the pasta in with the spinach and pour over the sauce.  Stir it all together, adding in the cheese. 

This was supposed to be a pasta with spinach in it.  To me, it was more like a spinach salad with pasta added.  It really had no flavor.  The olives were lacking bite, there was no spice and the oregano really didn't come through in the sauce.

I served up half to Jesse, one-quarter for myself and put one-quarter in a container for lunch the next day.   I couldn't even stand it the next day.  Just tossed it in the trash and ate a sandwich instead.    The bad experience with this meal left me a little hesitant for the next day's dinner,  Seared Steak and Creamy Chipotle Pan Sauce with Poblano, Corn and Crispy Potato Hash.