• In a stock pot, add in butter and olive oil and melt together. Add onions and celery to the stock pot and allow them to soften and become translucent. Stir occasionally. While that is going on, peel and dice the neck of one butternut squash. Set aside.
• Add thyme and garlic to the stock pot and stir in.
• Add in the cubed butternut squash and allow the simmer in the bottom of the pan so that squash softened and the edges start to brown slightly. About 5 minutes.
• Pour in low sodium chicken broth. Bring soup to a simmer. Once simmering, add in cheese tortellini. Add in spinach and allow to wilt. Simmer for two minutes. Then serve.

Make the Sauce

• Saute the onion and garlic in 1 tablespoon olive oil, on medium heat until translucent. Be sure to stir occasionally so it doesn’t burn. When the onions are done, add the spinach and cook just until wilted.
• Transfer the cooked spinach and onion to a blender. Add the basil, rest of the oil, garlic, milk, cheese, pecans, salt and pepper. Blend well, taste and add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside until pasta is ready.

Make Pasta and Veggies

• Heat a large pot of salted water to boil. When boiling, add noodles and cook until al dente.
• At the same time, heat another medium pot of boiling water to blanch the green veggies. When the water is boiling, add the veggies and cook for one minute. At the end of one minute, plunge the veggies into cold water to stop the cooking process.

Put it all together

• When the pasta is ready, drain well. In the same pot the pasta cooked, heat the sauce and half the vegetables on medium heat. Stir occasionally.
• When sauce is heated add the pasta and toss to coat the noodles. Serve up and add the remaining vegetables on top.

Tips

• For maximum authentic presentation, serve up your Peruvian green spaghetti with linguine noodles and don’t forget to add some hot sauce, Peruvians like it spicy!
• Full fat canned coconut milk is the best option for a creamier sauce. Other plant-based milks may work, but the sauce might not be quite as creamy and missing a bit of the fatty mouth feel.
• Use fresh spinach. Frozen spinach may seem like an easy shortcut you can take when making tallarines verdes, but honestly the fresh spinach is less work and tastes better too!