Spinach Pesto

When Ryan and I started dating, I found a recipe that looked great for dinner. The recipe called for arugula pesto and I had never eaten, seen, or heard of pesto before. Imagine my surprise when I got home with all the ingredients and the recipe said to blend it all together. I couldn't possibly blend the beautiful green bunch of arugula! What a waste! I also didn't think I really needed Pine nuts so I didn't buy them. I had to call Ryan and ask him about Pine nuts. Being the cultured man that he is, he had a jar at home he could bring over.
I have since learned a bit about pesto- mostly when Ryan had a huge basil crop and we made enough pesto to share with friends, family, and still freeze some to use over the next year. You can make pesto with basil, arugula, spinach, tarragon, even sun-dried tomatoes (I believe that's the French version and it's called Pistou), and use any nut you like or have available. There are many ways to make pesto and just as many ways to enjoy it!

Rotini with Spinach Pesto

1 pound Rotini pasta

1 tomato, diced

1 1/2 cups spinach, packed

3 or 4 tablespoons Spinach Pesto (recipe below)

Place the spinach in a strainer over the sink. Cook the pasta according to the package directions, and drain in the strainer with the spinach. The hot water will wilt the spinach in one easy step! Place the pesto at the bottom of a large bowl, toss in the pasta, spinach, and tomatoes until everything is coated in the pesto. The pesto gets in all the little nooks and crannies of the rotini, but any shaped pasta will work.

Spinach Pesto

2 cups packed Spinach

1 tablespoon dried Basil, or 1/8 cup fresh packed Basil

3/4 cup grated Parmesan

1/4 nuts (Pine nuts are standard in pesto, but we used Walnuts)

1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

3 cloves garlic

1/2 teaspoon salt

In a food processor fitted with the metal blade or a blender, blend all ingredients together until smooth. Scrape down the sides as necessary. That's it! It's ready to be tossed with hot pasta, veggies, or spread on bread.

Pesto can be refrigerated for a few days (it will lose some of the bright green color), and it freezes well for months. Pesto goes a long way so we freeze portions in snack size ziploc bags. Just pull it out of the freezer before you start dinner. It will be defrosted enough by the time you mix it with the hot pasta.