Baked pasta with creamy spinach and Brussels sprouts

To be honest, since the last summer, I had only bought and cooked frozen Brussels sprouts. This is why I wasn't really into them. They seemed soggy and kinda gross. But when my lovely mother-in-law brought me fresh Brussels sprouts, I roasted them on a pan and cooked a nice rice dish. I fell in love with them! Now I buy the sprouts myself and I was really craving for a creamy, hearty and green pasta dish. My old favorite, sunflower seed cream, makes the dish creamy and gives a nice "eggy" texture. A great main dish to delight your belly and taste buds.

serves 4 - 6 people

Preparation time: 50 minutes.

Sunflower seed cream:

• 1 cup / 150 g peeled sunflower seeds
• ½ - 1 tsp salt
• 3-4 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 ½ cups / 350 ml water

Soak the sunflower seeds 3-4 hours or overnight. You can also boil them for 15 minutes if you are in a hurry. Drain and rinse the soaked or boiled sunflower seeds and add them into a bigger bowl. Add salt, soy sauce and water. Blend with a (hand)blender until smooth.

Pasta:

• 14 oz / 400 g quality pasta (fusilli for example)
• 2-3 Tbsp oil
• 3 cups / 300 g fresh Brussels sprouts, washed and cut into 4 sectors
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup water
• 14 oz / 400 g frozen spinach

Preheat the oven to 400 F / 200 C. Boil the pasta al dente. In the meantime, heat up a bigger pan and add some oil to it. Add Brussels sprouts, some salt and pepper. Cook for 3-4 minutes, until the sprouts are slightly golden brown. Add water and simmer for 8-10 minutes. Add frozen spinach and simmer for 1 minute. Add the sunflower seed cream, stir and simmer for a minute. Grease a deeper baking pan and pour pasta into the pan. Cook for 35 minutes at 400 F / 200 C. Serve right away.