Spaghetti with Spinach Pesto Recipe

Remember my Orange Marble Cake and Tutti Frutti Cookies?  Well, I made also spaghetti with spinach pesto for main course.  I like pesto and to make our own pesto it’s wonderful, since it’s difficult and also expensive to get fresh basil leaves in Singapore I try different pesto and this spinach pesto I adapted from Prathibha’s Spinach Pesto Penna Pasta, I made the pesto in simple and quick method to suit my needs.


The pesto was smooth, creamy, rich and delicious, not to mention healthy too and that’s the reason it become hit among friends, they really loved it.  The colour of pesto depends on what kind of spinach we use, I use round spinach here and not the Indian dark green spinach.  This is a wonderful lunch box recipe, add colourful veggie like carrot, bell peppers, mushroom etc for kids. Here I used wheat pasta but you can use any pasta of your choice and it’s very easy and quick to prepare so looking at the method do not think it’s a long procedure.


Ingredients:

For Spinach Pesto [ serves 4-5]
Spinach – 1 Medium Bunch
Parsley – 1 small bunch [ around 10-12 stalks]
Walnut – 1/4 Cup [ you can also use pine nut or almonds]
Olive Oil – 1/4 Cup
Parmesan Cheese – 1/4 Cup [ cheddar cheese is fine too]
Garlic – 2 pods
Fresh Grounded Pepper – 1 tsp
Lemon Juice – 1 tbsp [ I didn’t use]
Salt – to taste
Water – to blanch spinach
For Pasta Assembly
Spaghetti – 3/4 of pack or as needed
Olive Oil – 2 tbsp + 1 tsp [ I used extra virgin]
Minced Garlic – 2 pods
Finely Chopped Carrot – 1
Sliced Capsicum – 1 [or half of green/yellow/red colours]
Italian Herbs – 1 tsp
Salt and Pepper – to taste
Water – To boil pasta


Method:

For Cooking Pasta
1. Follow the instruction on pack or in a large pot boil water, add salt, 1 tsp oil add spaghetti or pasta and cook over medium flame for 10-12 minutes or until pasta gets cooked but not over-cooked.
2. Reserve 1 cup of water and drain rest of it, give spaghetti a cold bath ie keep under tap water and toss it, keep aside until ready to use.
~ If you are using the cooked pasta after couple of hours then every 1/2 hour keep the pasta under tap and toss it to keep it separated. 
For Pesto
As the pasta is getting cooked, prepare the pesto.
1. Boil water in a large pot, add salt and washed, chopped spinach and blanch (cook) for 2 minutes.  Drain and rinse under tap water.
2. Blend spinach with all other ingredients for pesto into smooth sauce.  The texture of sauce will be little coarse and that’s fine. 
~ Add 2-3 tbsp of reserve water if required while blending.


For Assembly
1. In a pan heat oil, add garlic and sauté until golden brown, add capsicum and carrot and sauté for 2-3 minutes or until it’s gets cooked.
2. Add pesto and give a stir, now add 1/2 to 1 cup of pasta cooked reserve water (depends on how thick you like your sauce, I added 3/4 cup) and bring it to boil.  Add herbs, salt and pepper to taste.
3. Now add cooked pasta or spaghetti and mix everything well, off flame Or while serving add the sauce on top of spaghetti. 
Our pasta is ready, have it with drink of your choice.


Notes:
~ Add 1tsp chilli flakes if you like during the assembly.
~ Top up the pasta with 1-2 tbsp of parmesan cheese in the end.
~ You can skip the assembly part cooking, ie just add the pesto with cooked pasta. It also taste good.
~ Use the pesto by next day if refrigerated.
Have a nice day ~~

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