Spinach Pesto Pasta

I found this recipe in Short-Cut Vegan: Great Taste in No Time, on page 107, and adapted it a bit. It was fantastic tasting with a few tweaks.

The recipe called for frozen spinach…but lets just say I rarely use frozen. It reminds me of every nasty public school lunch I ate from 1980 to 1984 – spinach seemed to be the only vegetable the school served! I love spinach now – that is if it is FRESH 😉 Fresh is vibrant tasting.

Spinach Pesto Pasta

Ingredients:

• 9 ounce bag fresh spinach
• 2 heaping Tbsp raw walnut halves
• 1 large lemon, zested and juiced
• 3 Tbsp oil (I used 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil and 1 Tbsp walnut oil)
• 1 tsp Italian herb blend
• ½ tsp garlic, minced
• ¼ tsp fine sea salt and ground black pepper
• 2 Tbsp capers, drained
• 13.25 ounces whole-grain or whole-wheat pasta
• Parmesan or Pecorino Romano  for topping

Directions:

Add the spinach through black pepper to food processor bowl. Process until smooth, scraping often. Stir the capers in, set aside.

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil, cook pasta for time on package. Reserve a cup of  pasta water and drain. Add pesto to the hot pot, toss with pasta, adding enough reserved water to smooth out the sauce. Add in as much finely grated cheese as you like.

Serves 4.

~Sarah