Saturday, February 26, 2011

Spinach Pesto and Piccolini Farfalle.....Superfast



Don't you just hate it when you have no fresh basil in the fridge and you're hankering for some pesto? Or when you go to the grocery store and a measly bunch is more than the price of milk? I have a solution that works okay. Can't spend money on pricey foodstuffs everyday..... :)

Spinach pesto fills the void for a basil pesto. A two minute sauce, super healthy, and tastes like a fresh Italian dream. Now you'd think pureed spinach would be nasty, but with the addition of some of that frozen basil you may have lying in those ice cube trays in the freezer, it turns into something wonderful. And of course this post being about NOT having fresh basil, you can used dried.

Another note about the cost of basil, I frequently buy it in packs at the Chinese grocery or small farmers markets. This variety they sell at my particular grocery store is a pungent, spicy variety that does NOT hold a candle to straight up big leaved sweet Italian basil. But there you go, the cost of money.......


Spinach Garden Pesto
  • 3-4 cups lightly packed spinach
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • kosher salt to taste
  • black pepper to taste
  • 1 TB olive oil
  • 2 TB toasted walnuts
  • 1-2 cubes blended frozen basil (or 1/2c fresh or 1ts+ dried)

  1. Now, take the above ingredients and blend them up together.
  2. TaDa! You're done! Surprised? Too good to be true?

*NOTES:

*A quick easy way to toast walnuts is to just microwave them. Watch them carefully, mine took about a minute and half.

*Top with Feta (my fave) or Parmesan.

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