Winter Pesto
"This has a very different taste to a basil pesto, but I think it is delicious. Plus, it's a great way to eat your spinach! This quantity is enough for 2 1/2 lbs of pasta."
photo by Rita1652
- Ready In:
- 5mins
- Ingredients:
- 8
- Yields:
-
2 1/2 pounds of pasta
ingredients
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups firmly packed spinach leaves, stems discarded,washed well and spun dry
- 2 cups firmly packed fresh parsley leaves
- 1 cup olive oil
- 1 cup walnuts, toasted lightly and cooled
- 1 cup parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon crushed fennel seed
directions
- Mince and mash the garlic to a paste with salt.
- In a processor or blender, puree spinach with parsley, oil, walnuts, Parmesan, fennel and garlic paste.
- The pesto keeps, covered with a thin film of olive oil and chilled, up to 2 weeks.
- This makes enough to use with up to 2 ½ lbs of pasta.
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Reviews
-
This is a great thing to make and then have stored in the freezer for a busy night. I served this with pasta, broccoli, and some parm on one occasion, and it's a good stand-in for the "real" thing. I've also covered flounder filets with it (and then covered and baked), and I've stirred it into "leeky rice" (rice with sauteed leeks) and topped with parm. I'm sure there are many more yummy ways to use this, so I'll soon be making more. Thank you for such a useful recipe! -
I was so excited to find this recipe...had some spinach I needed to use and I was out of basil pesto from the summer crop. I used Walnuts in my first batch then had to use pecans in the second batch (out of Walnuts) and it was just as good. I almost started to try sunflower seeds, but wasn't sure...however, I saw another Winter Pesto recipe that used them (but had other ingredients I wasn't sure I would like)...but next time I make this, I will definitely try a batch with the Sunflower seeds too! Very good and easy recipe. I can't wait to try it on one of my favorite pasta recipes, fish, or chicken. My husband thought it would be good on cream cheese with crackers too! Definitely going in my keeper file! Thanks so much!! -
Very good mild flavor. I didn't change a thing to the recipe and served this in a large aluminum pan at a party. Everyone enjoyed the healthy pasta. -
Now I think this comes pretty close to basil pesto. I did use pine nuts but I think the fennel seeds gives it the basil flavor or it may have been the garlic, cheese and oil. I don`t know but it`s really good. Evelyn, I can`t see how it could last 2 weeks when I kept on tasting it as a made it!:*}. This is a great recipe for when I but those large bags of baby spinach from costo. Thanks for a keeper!
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OK, here goes. I live in Athens, Greece. I moved out here many, many years ago from Ottawa, Canada - so I am blessed in having two wonderful heritages!
I suffer from compulsive obsessive behaviour with regard to food and my psychiatrist thought it would be a good idea to find a 'society' where many have the same problem and try to find a cure.
So far, I've copied a couple of thousand recipes from this site and my psychiatrist has thrown the towel in and refuses to answer the phone when I call.
What did I do wrong?
Got 3 kids that keep me on the go - 10 and under at this point (2008) - I may not get round to updating this for a few years, so you'll have to do your own maths.
I teach English full-time and Greek Cookery part-time. I would like to make the cooking part of it full-time and the English Grammar part of it part-time.
That's all for now.
