Empty Nest Mummy

This is in both kids’ Top Ten Things For Tea, which is great as it is both healthy and super quick to make. Once you’ve made this, you’ll never buy that dusty old supermarket stuff in a jar again!

We generally make this with raw spinach, but sometimes with the more traditional basil instead, or sometimes a combination of the two.

Whatever you don’t use can be put in a small jar, with a little olive oil added, and kept in the fridge. We use it over 3 or 4 days in jacket potatoes, with baked sea bream or in wraps and sandwiches.

Print Recipe

Spinach & Walnut Pesto

A beautifully fresh and vibrant green dressing for pasta. You can use basil with the spinach, or instead of the spinach. And you can use pine nuts, walnuts, any nuts really - just have a little play around! You can grind this down in a pestle and mortar, but we always use a food processor.

Prep Time

10 minutes

Servings

people

Ingredients

• 200 grammes fresh spinach leaves
• 1 clove garlic
• 200 grammes Parmesan cheese
• 3 good glugs extra virgin olive oil
• 3 fistfuls walnuts or pine nuts or hazelnuts
• 1/2 small lemon juiced

Prep Time 10 minutes Servings people Ingredients 200 grammes fresh spinach leaves 1 clove garlic 200 grammes Parmesan cheese 3 good glugs extra virgin olive oil 3 fistfuls walnuts or pine nuts or hazelnuts 1/2 small lemon juiced

Instructions

1. Wash the spinach leaves thoroughly and shake off excess water.
2. Cut the garlic clove in 2 or 3 pieces.
3. Grate the Parmesan.

   
4. Put the spinach leaves, garlic clove and walnuts in the food processor. Add a couple of glugs of olive oil. You might need to blitz this down a bit to make space for the rest. Add the rest and keep adding olive oil to loosen the paste.
5. Once you have the texture of pesto that you want, put it in a bowl and stir in the Parmesan.
6. You can make the pesto a little looser if you like by adding some more olive oil, or some of the cooking water from the pasta.

   
7. Taste and season with a little salt & pepper. I like to add a little lemon juice too.
8. Add the desired amount to the cooked pasta.
9. Serve as it is, or drizzled with a little olive oil, a sprinkling of grated parmesan, some toasted pine nuts or a handful of rocket leaves.
10. Any leftovers can be kept in a jar in the fridge for a few days. Best to put a layer of olive oil on the top.