Things have been a little quiet around the blog lately because I've been hard at work putting together a super secret surprise which I'll share with all of you in a couple weeks once I've gifted it away. In the meantime, I wanted to share an easy and seasonal recipe with you!
Our local farmer's market recently started up again for the year and since it's the beginning of the season, there are lots of leafy greens being sold. The last time my husband and I stopped by, we got a huge bag of spinach for $5. I love sauteed spinach and spinach smoothies as much as anyone, but I wanted to try something different with it. I decided to make a quick pesto using spinach as the base instead of basil. The result was super tasty and can be used on anything from bread to soup to steak.
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Spinach Pesto
2 cups fresh spinach leaves, well-washed and stemmed
1⁄2 cup fresh parsley, preferably Italian flat leaf
1⁄2 cup walnuts or 1⁄2 cup pine nuts, toasted
1⁄4 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated, not canned
3 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1⁄4 teaspoon sea salt
1⁄8 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
Place all ingredients into food processor and process to a fine paste. Taste, adjust seasonings as needed and transfer to a glass container, pouring a thin coat of olive oil over the top to prevent the pesto from discoloring.
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The end result is a creamy, delicious pesto. You can also leave out the cheese if you don't have any, and try substituting other nuts for whatever you have on hand. This will keep for weeks in your refrigerator, but I'm sure ours will be gone within a few days because it's so good. Let me know if you decide to try this recipe!