Look at me trying to give you a recipe when I openly confess over and over again that I am not particularly a very good at cooking. But hey, even I can manage pasta and this one is a good one to keep in mind if your kids enjoy basil pesto as much as mine do but aren’t as enthusiastic about eating their spinach.
Every time I make pesto pasta, I take a whole bunch of frozen spinach and dump it in my small chopper. Once the pasta is boiled and ready, I save about 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup of hot, starchy, and salty water before draining the pasta. I dump that water over the frozen spinach to thaw it and to slightly cook it too. This process really takes that raw edge from the spinach and turns it more mellow.
After a couple of minutes of the water and spinach hanging out together, I blend the whole thing into a smooth paste. Next up, I add it to the pasta along with the pesto and a bit more olive oil and parmesan cheese. And that’s it.
I know that it looks very spinachy. And yes, kids are hard to fool when it comes to green things on their plate. But somehow mine have never complained or been suspicious. Which tells me that, that hot water over spinach trick is worth the extra step and dirtying the food processor. I hope you give it a try. And if your kids eat it without once complaining, please, PLEASE, send me a note so that I can boost my cooking confidence. ; )
Feature Image via Unsplash.
Yum! Sounds delicious . . .