Pesto is basically a sauce made with garlic, basil and nuts blended with cheese and olive oil. For some reason I had always thought that pesto can only be made with basil and pine nuts. So I purchased pine nuts and was waiting to get my hands on basil, which was when I saw spinach pesto in few blogs. I also found out that walnuts can be used instead of pine nuts *sigh* wish I had known it earlier as both spinach and walnuts are always at home. Anyway the pesto was made and the pine nuts added a lot of creaminess to the pesto. We used it over pasta and also used it instead of cheese for sandwich. This recipe is from the cover of pine nuts and I replaced basil with spinach. I also added some green chillies for that extra punch which Indians love 
Off to ‘how pesto is made’.
Spinach Pesto
Pesto with spinach and pine nuts.
Ingredients:
- spinach - 2 cups - fresh (packed)
- pine nuts - 1/2 cup - roasted
- green chilly - 2
- garlic - 4 cloves
- parmesan cheese - 1/2 cup - grated
- olive oil - 2 - 3 tbsp
- salt - to taste
Instructions:
Dry roast the pine nuts and blend with other ingredients.
Toss with cooked pasta.
Pictorial
Dry roast the pine nuts.
Take the pine nuts in a blender.
Add spinach, green chillies, garlic, parmesan, olive oil and salt to the pine nuts and make a paste.
I added 2 tbsp olive oil initially but the blender blades did not move at all. So had to add another tbsp of olive oil.
Spinach Pesto ready. How simple was that and I was postponing this for months .. huh. We had it over penne pasta for dinner. The pesto was rich and creamy and added a lot of flavor to the pasta.
I also sauteed some vegetables and added to the pasta.
Enjoy!
The first picture was uploaded on 5/1/2013.
Tips
1. Pesto freezes well.
2. Use walnuts instead of pine nuts
3. Use basil instead of spinach.
Pls do not make this dip using spinach & hazelnut. It tastes yak!
The sauce looks just like how I would like it!! I have made with walnuts but not with spinach, and since I love spinach so much I should gice this a try!!
Lovely color and healthy pasta !!
Ongoing Event – CC-Roti Pachadi/Chutney
What a great looking pasta sauce! Such a great vibrant color.
Healthy & delicious paste.Love the colour.
http://www.easycookingforamateurs.com/
wow lovely colorful and healthy pasta…:)
Looks, very clourful and ur final plate is what I need now …
wow, love the colour, a nice way of enjoying pasta
Love the vibrant green!! Amazing!! Thanks for sharing!
Such a healthy dish!!!! Nice color and presentation!!
My fav ~ lovely deep green color!
US Masala
I too make this…looks yumm n nice color
mmm…looks so delicious n healthy too…liked the idea of adding chillies to the pesto…once i tried coriander pistachio pesto..like it very much..now its time for spinach pesto
I am a big fan of spinach pesto. Immediately loved it when I made mine. Adding chillies is a super idea…
I always do this pesto to hide the ingredient to make my kid eat ….:-)
Love the color of the pesto! It is just delicious, isn't it? I also used the spinach pesto in my pasta salad and used the rest as a spread for my sandwich.
Spinach Pesto looks somewhat new to me, but fab!
I'm surely trying this with pasta the next time I cook it on.
Healthy and such a simple recipe… Looks so yum…
wow lovely colorful and healthy pasta…:)
This one is my fav too..love spinach in this form
Lovely pesto… Surely spinach gives a healthy punch to the pesto. I too love the creaminess of the pine nuts … loved it…
Looks like I am going to try this out next. Only I need to get hold of spinach( not very nice now as it is raining cats and dogs)!
I wanted to send an entry to your fast food round-up but the linky is not coming up! will try later.
That looks yummy…love the spinach pesto:-) i am sooo going to try this one!!
Pesto looks healthy and colourful.
We love basil pesto at home and I am sure spinach tastes good too.
-Supriya@RedChillies
Beautiful pesto! Love the bright healthy colour. I would love to make this one day. Thanks very much for sharing.
mmmmm…..lovely green color…
wowee wowee i love it so much..
Wow looks fresh and nice healthy way to eat pastas
Lovely color and thanks for the tip dear….
Wow … lovely green colour…I love pasta.
A good way to include spinach…Looks delicious and creamy.
hmm..looks colourful vardhini! Am not a big fan of Italian dishes buy DH loves them.
Recipe looks simple,will give it a try soon!