Coming in hot today with Poppy's current obsession, Easy Pesto Pasta + some hot tips on how to preserve that delish pesto through fall and winter!!
What is pesto?
Pesto is a bright herby green Italian sauce traditionally made with basil, pine nuts, parmesan cheese, olive oil, and garlic. It's adds so much flavor to any dish, you can add it on top of protein, use it as the base of pizza, make it into a salad dressing, stir it into a hummus dip, and absolutely add it to pasta.
How to make pesto pasta sauce?
Making homemade pesto pasta sauce is so easy. Start by placing the basil, pine nuts, parmesan cheese, garlic, spinach, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a food processor or high powered blender. Blend until nearly smooth, making sure to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a spatula as necessary. Drizzle the remaining olive oil into the mixture while processing until smooth.
If you fall in love with pesto like me and want to explore more, try this arugula pesto pasta, that uses arugula leaves instead of basil.
What to serve with pesto pasta?
I like serving this spinach pesto pasta with a protein like grilled chicken, or shrimp and some more vegetables on the side like this garlic butter broccoli or any combo of roasted vegetables depending on what you have on hand.
Can you freeze pesto?
Sure can! Pesto absolutely saves well for leftover meals! My favorite tip for freezing pesto is to pour it into an ice cube mold that way you can pop out a single serving as needed without having to defrost the whole thing.
If you tried this recipe, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting today
Spinach Pesto Pasta
Ingredients
- 1½ cups baby spinach leaves
- ¾ cup fresh basil leaves
- ½ cup toasted pine nuts
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil divided
- 4 cloves garlic peeled and quartered
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Spaghetti or any fun shaped pasta
Instructions
- Place spinach, basil, pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, 2 tablespoons olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, salt, lemon zest, and pepper into a food processor; blend until nearly smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl with a spatula as necessary. Drizzle remaining olive oil into the mixture while processing until smooth.
- Mix into cooked pasta for toddlers.
My 2 year old’s favorite food! I make a double batch and freeze in ice cube trays so it’s always ready to throw into pasta for a quick lunch or dinner since it’s the one thing I know he will always eat.
I want baby food!!!! This looks so colorful and delicious!