Quick pesto recipe

For the weekend pesto: success! It’s kid approved. Or at least my picky-eater little guy liked it. Pesto is soooo easy! And I cut the spiciness of the basil with spinach, while boosting the nutritional value. Feel free to adjust amounts per your taste.

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Pest-oh!

The recipe (I’ll pay more attention to exact amounts next time):

3 fistfuls of fresh basil leaves

1 cup washed fresh baby spinach leaves

¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1/8 cup pine nuts

2 garlic cloves

1 lemon (will need the zest and then about 1&½ tablespoons juice)

salt

pepper

olive oil

Combine all ingredients, minus the olive oil, in a food processor. Give it a few whirls to reduce the volume, then add a few tablespoons of olive oil. Eyeball it. You’ll continue to add olive oil as you continue processing to get the texture that you desire. You don’t want it too soupy, because then you’re just eating basil/garlic flavored olive oil!

For the pasta, cook 2-3 cups of your favorite pasta. When pasta has about a minute left to cook, add some chopped sun-dried tomatoes to the water and allow them to soften. Drain the noodles and tomatoes and add to a bowl. Add the pesto by the heaping spoonful, to taste. Add more Parmesan cheese and serve warm or at room temperature.

Enjoy!

@livingthemaddash