Spinach Pesto

Just wanted to share this tasty recipe with the 3 (ok, maybe it's 6) of you that check out my blog. ;)  I used the pesto recipe from the America's Test Kitchen (my go to cookbook) and tweaked it a little bit. It turned out so good, I wanted to marry it.

3 garlic cloves, unpeeled

2 cups packed basil---I used spinach, I find it's a bit milder, but still has good flavor.

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 toasted pine nuts--I think this is key

1/4 cup grated Parm cheese--the real stuff, not the powdery stuff in the green container. I always seem to add 1/2 cuz I like to so much.

2 T of fresh parsley (optional)---was not used in my tweaking

*about 1 T of dried basil

*about 1 T fresh squeezed lemon juice

*these were part of the tweaking, so I didn't measure them, just went on taste.

Toast the garlic in a skillet over med heat, shaking the pan occasionally until fragrant and spotty brown. I toast the pine nuts in the same pan because they don't take as long. Watch the nuts though, you don't want then to burn, when they are brown and fragrant get them outta the pan. 

In a food processor, a blender would work too, blend the garlic, spinach, pine nuts, parm cheese, drizzle the oil in while blending. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Then I added the basil and lemon juice. I like the flavor of basil so I wanted to add some, but there is just something about the spinach that is so good. I also added lemon for that bit of freshness. 

This is enough to cover one pound of pasta. When tossing the pesto with pasta, add some of the pasta water as needed to loosen the consistency of the pesto. Feel free to add chicken, that's good too.

If it turns out anything like mine, it will be a vibrant green. You eat with your eyes first, right?  

In the bowl...

On the plate...

In your face! Jack loved it.