by monkeymom
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monkeymom's Notes:
Expand1/2 pound pasta (penne, gemelli, corkscrew, or shells) Ask a question about this ingredient
12 ounces bag of baby spinach Ask a question about this ingredient
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil Ask a question about this ingredient
1/3 cup walnuts Ask a question about this ingredient
1-2 tablespoon salt Ask a question about this ingredient
1 cup freshly grated parmigiano reggiano cheese (or more, to suit your taste) Ask a question about this ingredient
3 cloves of garlic Ask a question about this ingredient
1 pint cherry tomatoes Ask a question about this ingredient
1 handful of toasted pine nuts Ask a question about this ingredient
Bring large pot of water to boil. Add pasta and cook for recommended time.
Ask a question about this stepWhile the pasta is cooking, add 2/3 of the spinach into a food processor. Add olive oil, walnuts, garlic and salt. Process until you get desired texture – I prefer some slight chunks but you can also process it very smooth.
Ask a question about this stepWhen pasta is done cooking, drain and rinse or shock pasta in cold water to stop the cooking process and cool the pasta. Put pasta into a large salad bowl.
Ask a question about this stepAdd 2/3 of spinach pesto mixture to pasta and stir to coat. Sprinkle in ¾ of the cheese while mixing to distribute. Check seasoning and add salt or more cheese if necessary. If taking this to a potluck, here is a good stopping point. You can dress the salad and toss all the ingredients together right before serving to make sure the spinach doesn’t wilt.
Ask a question about this stepAdd rest of spinach to bowl and most of tomatoes. Squeeze a little lemon juice onto leaves and add the rest of the pesto and a sprinkling of salt. Toss leaves to coat.
Ask a question about this stepBring pasta up from bottom and toss with greens. Add remaining tomatoes, pine nuts and cheese before serving.
Ask a question about this stepThis is a great travelling recipe!
Hi testkitchenette...it's my go to recipe for crowds as it is quick to make too.
This sounds great and looks beautiful! I love gemelli. Very nice picture. Thanks for recipe!
Thanks mrslarkin! We had it for dinner tonight with some sauteed shrimp. My husband was happy it was meatloaf and spinach week!
Eugenia is the author of the book Well-Preserved and writes about homemade food preservation for the Denver Post's Well-Preserved blog.
This looks and sounds delicious!! And I LOVE Gayle's Bakery! I worked on a project for a year on a college campus near there and got to eat there many days. Even today if I'm anywhere near there, I'll detour it over to Gayle's to get a bunch of stuff to take home to feast on. I'll definitely be making this in the near future.