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Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Spinach Basil Pesto




I was looking for recipes to use spinach in a way that I would enjoy, because I'm not a fan of vegetables.  I found this one a year or two ago and I was very surprised at how much I liked it.

Here is where I found the recipe:Spinach Basil Pesto

It is fabulous with either pasta, chicken, or both.  

Here is how to make it:

- If you're planning to use this with chicken and/or pasta, get that cooking first.

-Next, throw the following into a blender or food processor:
     -1 1/2 cups baby spinach
     -3/4 cup basil
     -1/2 cup toasted pine nuts (often, I cannot find these at the store, so I have substituted almonds)
     -1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
     -4 cloves garlic, peeled & quartered
     -3/4 teaspoon salt (I leave this out to reduce the sodium)
     -1/2 teaspoon pepper
     -1 tablespoon lemon jice
     -1/2 teaspoon lemon zest (I leave this out cause I never feel like grating lemon peel)
     -1/2 cup olive oil



-Blend/process.  I have to add quite a bit more olive oil as it's blending; otherwise, this is too thick for the blender to handle.  If you have a food processor I bet it would work much better.

-Once your pasta and/or chicken is finished cooking, just add a few spoonfuls of the pesto and voila!  I keep the extra in the fridge (but then again, I am just cooking for two people so you may end up using the entire batch).

2 comments:

  1. I love vegetables, they're the mainstay of my dinners most of the time. I'd probably up the spinach content of your pesto, which looks delicious.

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  2. I love vegetables! Cant do without them. The spinach Basil pesto looks really delicious!

    Thanks for dropping by and for your lovely comment!

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