Pasta with Tomatoes and Spinach, Basil and Walnut Pesto

It's been a common theme around my house lately: grab whatever ingredients are laying around and make something for dinner. Tonight's ingredients - pasta and spinach. I considered pasta with olive oil, wilted spinach and garlic, but thought that may be too much of the same taste. I was hoping I could find some chickpeas in the cabinet and use them somehow in a sauce, but no such luck. Along they way, I discovered the very end of a bag of chopped walnuts and aha! The idea for spinach, basil and walnut pesto was born. 

For those who have been following along, you know that I have an Aerogarden. A very fruitful one. So, I welcome the opportunity to use up some of the fresh herbs it grows. Adding spinach to a traditional pesto recipe yields a lighter taste and substituting walnuts for pine nuts gives the sauce an earthy flavor. I threw in some tomatoes for varied texture at the end.

Spinach, Basil and Walnut Pesto

spinach leaves

basil

chopped walnuts

garlic

olive oil

parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Pulse all ingredients (in your preferred quantities) in a mini-prep food processor to your desired consistency.

Enjoy!

Pesto

Tomato and basil are two ingredients that were likely made for each other. Tomato, mozzarella and basil; tomato, basil and a splash of balsamic vinegar; tomato basil soup; tomato basil sauce - the pairing can be found everywhere. So, what to do when you have a bunch of basil and a few tomatoes on hand, and are looking for something a little more interesting and complex? Make pesto!

Pesto

1 cup, packed, of basil leaves

1/2 cup pine nuts

1/4 cup grated parmesan

1 TBS minced garlic

salt and pepper to taste

olive oil, to preferred consistency

Roughly chop basil and pine nuts in a small food processor. Add parmesan, garlic, salt and pepper and chop to combine. Add olive oil in a steady stream while food processor is on, to desired consistency.

Combine with tomatoes, use as a pasta sauce, spread on bread as a base for sandwiches, mix with mashed potatoes. The possibilities are endless.

Enjoy!

Ricotta, Spinach and Prosciutto Ravioli

As part two (part one?) of our Valentine's Day dinner, I decided to make these raviolis from an Everyday Italian episode by Giada de Laurentis. I saw the episode years ago and jotted down the ingredients and cooking instructions the best I could. When I happened on the recipe this weekend, I could barely distinguish my chicken scratch. Thank goodness for the Internet, which houses answers to all my questions. I found the recipe posted, and adapted, on another food blog site, Cookbook Catchall. 

For the recipe and adaptation, click here.

For the sauce, I kept the butter and substituted dried sage for the oregano. It was delicious!

Enjoy!