This post is dedicated to my youngest daughter. When I made Spesto for dinner the other night she asked "Mommy, is this going to be on your blog?" Bing! Here it is.
My girls love pasta...and they love pesto. Around here we like to make our own pesto. In the summer I grow massive amounts of basil, so there is no shortage for making pesto. But, when I went to make a batch recently - no basil. What to do? Why not substitute something else for the basil...spinach. Here's how.
Spesto
Ingredients
2 handfuls of spinach
1-2 cloves of garlic
¼ cup of pine nuts (I actually have almonds in the picture because we ran out of pine nuts!)
½ cup parmasean cheese
2-3 teaspoon of olive oil
salt and pepper
Steps
1. add spinach, garlic, cheese and pine nuts to a food processor - pulse until ingredients are chopped and combined
2. add olive oil, salt and pepper - pulse until spesto is smooth
3. in the meantime boil, drain and return pasta to pot
4. add spesto to the pot of pasta - the warm pasta will gently heat the spesto
5. plate and enjoy
Kids eating spinach what could be better than that? This whips up in minutes, it's an quick, easy, delicious recipe. It's just so awesome that my girls request Spesto...a name they came up with on their own. Hope they like this post? We'll see.
Peggy-Sue says
Wow - that looks great! I would never have thought to use spinach and luckily, my kids love spinach, so finding another way to use it is great. Yet again, another recipe I'm looking forward to trying out!
Sarah @ Snowing in Houston says
There is a peruvian pesto sauce (salsa verde) similar to this it has basil, spinich, feta cheese, oil, garlic. We eat it all the time!
Jen says
Sarah - that sounds delicious too..and my kids love all those ingredients..we will have to give it a try! thanks.
Veronica Slater presents says
Love this!! All 6 of us are huge Pesto fans! We must try Spesto, what a great name too. Sure glad your youngest daughter suggested you blog about this great recipe!! 🙂 Thanks for sharing
Tara says
Hey Jen do you have an alternative suggestion for the nut portion? Thanks, Tara
Jen says
Tara - for an alternative to pine nuts you could try pepitas which are pumpkin seeds and can be bought at most bulk food store. Also, I have seen pistachio, walnuts and almonds used. Just add a little at a time so your spesto doesn't get too thick. Of course you can always thin it with more e.v.o.o.
Thanks everyone for the feedback...enjoy.
Tara says
Pumpkin seeds sound good! Thanks!