Spinach Pesto With Whole Wheat Pasta Food

WHOLE-WHEAT PASTA WITH PUMPKIN-SEED AND SPINACH PESTO

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add pasta, and cook until al dente. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup cooking liquid.
• Meanwhile, combine toasted pumpkin seeds, parsley, chives, oil, garlic, 1 1/4 teaspoon salt, the lemon zest, and 1 cup baby spinach in a food processor. Season with pepper, and pulse until well combined.
• Toss pasta with pesto mixture. Add reserved cooking liquid, and mix until pasta is well coated. Fold in remaining 1 1/2 cups baby spinach. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Divide among 6 bowls. Top each with a dollop of ricotta, and season with pepper. Serve with tomato wedges if desired.

SPINACH PESTO WITH WHOLE-WHEAT PASTA

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Prepare a large bowl of ice water; place a colander inside, resting in ice.
• In batches, stir spinach into boilingwater. Cook until wilted and brightgreen, about 30 seconds. Transfer spinachto the colander (in the ice bath)to stop cooking. Reserve boiling water.Cool completely in ice bath, then liftcolander; squeeze spinach dry.
• Cook pasta in reserved boiling water until al dente, according to package instructions. Save 1/2 cup pasta water; immediately drain pasta, and return to pot.
• Meanwhile, place spinach, Parmesan, walnuts, garlic, and lemon zest and juice in a food processor. Process until a coarse paste forms. With motor running, add oil and 1/4 cup plain water; process until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper.
• Add tomatoes and pesto to pasta; toss, adding reserved pasta water to coat pasta, if necessary. Taste and adjust salt and pepper, as needed. Serve with additional Parmesan, if desired.

SPINACH, WALNUT AND GOLDEN RAISIN PESTO PASTA WITH ITALIAN CHICKEN SAUSAGE

Steps:

• Preheat a grill or grill pan to medium-high heat. Grill the sausages, covered with a medium heatproof bowl, until nice and charred and no longer pink on the inside, flipping once, 6 to 8 minutes per side. Transfer to a cutting board, let cool slightly, then slice on the bias. Set aside.
• Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Poach the garlic cloves in the boiling water for 5 minutes, then transfer them with a slotted spoon to a food processor. Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook to al dente according to the package directions.
• Meanwhile, add the walnuts to the food processor with the garlic and pulse until chopped, about 8 times. Add the spinach, basil, cheese, olive oil, raisins, salt, pepper and lemon zest and juice. Pulse about 10 times, until combined but still rustically chopped. Season with additional salt and pepper if needed.
• Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Using a spider, add the pasta to the skillet. Add the spinach pesto and toss to combine. Heat until warmed through. Season to taste if necessary and serve immediately topped with grilled sausage slices.

SPINACH PESTO PASTA RECIPE BY TASTY

Steps:

• In a food processor, add all ingredients to make pesto and blend until walnuts are finely blended.
• In a hot pan, add olive oil and cook chicken breast. Salt and pepper to taste.
• Remove the chicken and slice.
• Combine the chicken and pesto sauce into spaghetti and mix until the sauce fully coats the pasta.
• Serve and top it off with parmesan cheese.
• Enjoy!

SPINACH ARTICHOKE WHOLE-WHEAT PENNE

Steps:

• Place a large pot of water over high heat and bring up it up to a boil to cook the pasta, season with some salt and cook to al dente, according to package directions. Drain and reserve about 1 cup of the cooking water.
• Heat 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil in medium nonstick skillet. Add artichokes to heat through and lightly brown at edges.
• To clean spinach, fill sink with water, swish spinach around and let grit fall to bottom of sink. Dry leaves before using.
• In the bowl of a food processor add the shallot, 1/2 cup chicken stock, spinach leaves, mint, almonds and salt and pepper, to taste. If you have a hand held small-holed grater or a zester, grate garlic into the food processor. Adding a whole clove can result in stray big pieces of raw garlic, too bitter to bite down on. If you do not have a hand held grater, mince garlic and mash up into paste with a little salt. Turn processor on and add in about 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil.
• Scrape the spinach pesto into the artichoke pan and loosely cover with foil. Bring mixture to a simmer over low to medium-low heat and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the reserved pasta cooking water, the pasta and the cheese. Toss to coat the pasta with the sauce and heat for 1 minute. Transfer to a serving bowl or platter, season with salt and pepper, to taste, and serve.

WHOLE WHEAT PASTA WITH SPINACH, MUSHROOMS, AND TOMATOES

Steps:

• Cook pasta as directed, al dente. Drain when done and return to pan.
• In a large sauce pan, heat oil to medium and saute mushrooms and garlic.
• Add tomatoes, chicken, and italian seasoning and simmer an additional 2 minutes.
• Add fresh spinach and cooked pasta.
• Add salt and pepper as desired.
• Heat through and serve immediately topping with parmesan or feta.
• (You could also use raw diced chicken and cook that first instead of using the cooked chicken.).

BAKED WHOLE WHEAT PASTA WITH SPINACH AND MOZZARELLA

Steps:

• Almonds -- In a medium dry saute pan on medium high heat, add the almonds and cook a couple of minutes until they get golden brown. Keep an eye of them, they do not take long.
• Fresh Bread Crumbs -- If you are using dry bread crumbs, skip this step.
• Chop up the bread fairly fine. Then in that same saute pan you used to toast your almonds in, bring to medium high heat and add 1 teaspoon of the olive oil. Toss in the bread crumbs, seasoning and toast until golden brown. They only take 1-2 minutes and stir often.
• Pasta -- Cook the pasta according to package direction in salted boiling water. Drain well, return to the pot and toss with the olive oil and set to the side off the heat. As the pasta cooks, saute your vegetables.
• Vegetables -- Once again, use that same saute pan and add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and heat to medium medium/high heat. Add the garlic, onion and little salt and pepper and saute 2-3 minutes, then toss in the spinach and saute just a few seconds until the spinach is slightly wilted. Don't cook more than just a few seconds. Remove from the heat and stir in 1/2 of the lemon zest and 1 cup of the almonds. Add to the pasta along with the chicken broth. Check for seasoning, salt and pepper. Personally, I like to add some extra pepper.
• Bake -- In a 13x9 or similar size baking dish, sprayed with Pam or any non-stick spray, add the remaining lemon zest. Then add 1/2 of the pasta, 1/2 the cheese; then the rest of the pasta, and the rest of the cheese. Sprinkle with the almonds, and then top with the bread crumbs and cover with foil and bake in a 375 degree oven for about 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake another 10 minutes until the bread crumbs get golden brown.
• Serve -- ENJOY! I like to keep it a bit healthy and serve with a bowl of tomato soup and a baguette with melted cheese.