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Recently,  I was in the  mood for pasta.  Particularly the flat and wide variety such as reginette.  I found some at the store, so all I had to find next was a recipe for a tasty sauce. I was planning to serve this to my family for lunch, so plain old tomato sauce was not going to cut it, especially for Mariano.
I scanned my usual food blogs and food sites and I came across this recipe which seemed like the perfect way to sneak in some greens. Plus, I had never tasted pesto made out of spinach before so it was the perfect opportunity to taste something new.

I didn’t have all the ingredients at home, so I was quite liberal about substituting ingredients, and also adding some.  In fact, I just used the recipe as an idea.   (You can click the link below to see the original recipe.)   If you get left over pesto, you can use on sandwiches!

Helga

Pasta with Spinach Pesto & Peas

Adapted from The Kitchn

Spinach Pesto:
makes about 2 cups

Ingredients
3 ounces of cream cheese
1 clove garlic, peeled with root end trimmed off
2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup almonds
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
10-12 ounces of spinach, washed and spun dry
salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:

1. Add the cheese, garlic, olive oil, almonds and lemon juice to the bowl of a food processor and mix until combined. Add the spinach and run the food processor until the mixture has formed a thick paste. If the spinach won’t fit all at once, add it in batches. Taste for seasonings, adding salt, pepper, and lemon juice as needed.

Pasta with Spinach Pesto & Peas
makes 6-8 servings

Ingredients:
1 pound reginette pasta (or your pasta shape of choice!)
1/2 cup pasta water (don’t skip this!)
1/2 Tablespoon olive oil
1 cup peas (cooked)
1/2 cup spinach pesto (more as needed)
grated Parmesan for sprinkling on top

1. Bring a large amount of water to a rapid boil, add a palm-full of salt, and cook the pasta to al dente. (follow the package’s instructions.) Before draining the pasta, scoop out about a half cup of the pasta cooking water and set aside. Drain the pasta and set aside.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet and add the peas and toss until warmed through–about 30 seconds.
3. Add the pasta to the skillet and pour the pesto on top. Toss to combine everything. If the sauce is looking a little “loose” or you’d like it a bit creamier, add a splash (just a splash!) of the pasta water. Stir and add more pasta water if desired.
4. Taste for seasonings and add salt and pepper as needed.
5. Serve with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.

Note: You may add shredded bits of chicken breast.

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This post is also available in / Esta entrada también está disponible en ESPAÑOL (SPANISH)