Presto originally named Pesto Alla Genovese it originated in Genoa a city in Italy. Basil Pesto is the original pesto made all over Italy and what every other pesto is derived from. In our pesto today we are adding some wonderful baby spinach.
There are so many delicious ways to save any leftover to use later. Freeze the leftover in ice cube trays. This way makes it easy to just pop out what you need. This is so simple you will more than likely start creating your own flavors.
Spinach Pesto Basil
- 1 1/2 cups baby spinach leaves
- 3/4 cup fresh basil leaves
- 1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
- 1/2 cup grated parmigiano reggiano cheese
- 4 cloves of garlic peeled and quartered
- kosher salt to taste
- fresh ground pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- zest from the lemon
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
The first thing you need to do it roast your pine nuts. This is relatively easy but you need to keep an eye on them. Like a baby in a bath do not leave. I use a small teflon pan with a medium heat. just cook them until they have a brown roasted look. I toss them into a small bowl and let them cool prior to adding them to the blender.
While those pine nuts are cooling get all your ingredients together making the process so easy. I just pop everything into my blender. Use the olive oil sparingly at first use a couple tablespoons of it while blending then adding the remainder towards the end of blending.
You can use a food processor or any tool that will blend the mixture up for you. I always seem to make more then required for my pasta. And it seems no matter how much I learn about Pesto's I just add a lot to my dish.
I used this pesto to cover my tortellini pasta and I chopped up some fresh tomatoes to add to it. It was delicious.
I know I added to much but the beauty of cooking meals at home is who gives a la la lee
Enjoy this and get creative and make some of your own flavor Pestos the choices are endless.
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