So I really like pesto, my husband does too. I think the fact that I make homemade pesto is one of the reasons he married me. We make all kinds and have a fairly loose definition of pesto. Last night was spinach, tomato. It was super simple, yummy and full of leafy greens, Vitamin A, lycopene and iron among other wonderful nutrients.
Here's how it went: The other night we made pizza and had a bit (about 1/4 jar) of red sauce leftover, any flavor/version will do, ours was Capers and Olives. Yum.
~ Put some water on to boil for pasta and decide what you will be cooking from step 6. Get that going too. Add your pasta when the water is ready. ~
1. Red Sauce into blender- Do not heat first
2. 2-3 T of Extra Virgin Olive Oil into blender
3. + fresh baby spinach a handful at a time, pulse until it incorporates, repeat 'til you use it all~ 9oz or so.
4. + 2-3 T grated parmesan
5. *Optional* Salt and red pepper. We like spice so we added red pepper and just a pinch of salt to help the spinach flavor bleed into the sauce a bit more. Add whatever you like-get creative.
6. Add to a hot pan of whatever you like (we used chicken sausage) and toss about to blanch the spinach a bit and gently heat up the sauce. The pan just needs to be hot but not on. Turn off the burner or toss over low heat...we are not cooking anything here, just heating it up. The heat from the pan and whatever you cooked will do the job nicely.
Instead of chicken sausage try cooking up some sliced chicken breast, mushrooms/onions, zucchini or anything else that strikes your fancy.
7. Toss with pasta. This is a thicker sauce so it works best with a shapely pasta like penne or farfalle (bowties) rather than something like spaghetti.
8. Enjoy.
Be Creative! Consider as a filler for a meatballesque sub on a whole grain roll, or simply serve over more veggies like strips of zucchini or spaghetti squash, also an excellent filler for lasagna or a pizza sauce.
