That something is Springy Pesto.
Lacking the nuts/pine-nuts that give regular basil pesto the kind of earthiness that cries out for a bowl of steaming whole wheat linguine to mix it into. This is pesto's sassier, younger sister. Lemon = sassy, no?
And it's very easy.
And it's incredibly versatile. Brush it on some vegetables and throw them on the grill. Spread it on a sandwich. Use it as a dip. Go Nuts (or Nut-less, as it were).
So here we go
(Sassy) Spring Pesto
3 cups of nice leafy spinach
1 cup basil
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup vinaigrette (made from equal parts olive oil, champagne or white wine vinegar, and lemon juice)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese.
The directions are wicked complicated. Put the leafs and garlic in the food processor/blender and pulse until super finely chopped. (about 30 seconds). Drizzle in vinaigrette while pulsing. Stir in cheese.
Et voila!
Look how green that is! How can you not think of spring when you see it?
Of course you can be as creative as you want with this. More spinach and less basil or vice versa. Use whatever vinegar you have on hand. Maybe bump up the lemon or garlic. Whatever your thing is!
My favorite thing to do with this pesto, besides bathe in it if I had enough, is to make Shrimp Quesadillas. The perfect quick and healthy dinner. It's like a cool kid sandwich.
You will need (per person)
1.5-2 oz medium shrimp, deveined and de-tailed (I use the bags of shrimp you can get in the frozen seafood section of the supermarket!)
2 tbsp Spring Pesto
1 8-inch whole wheat tortilla
1 oz drained and chopped artichoke hearts (from a jar)
a sprinkling of feta cheese, crumbled.
Again, this is very complicated:
Take your tortilla and spread the pesto on it, then layer the shrimp over half of it.
Then the artichoke hearts.
Then the feta.
Then fold over and George Foreman grill it for about 2 minutes, until heated through.
Serve with salad on the side (I did a Spinach + black olive + feta salad with some white wine vinegar drizzled over it)
Is that a classy little dinner or what?
Made even more classy by my latest wine-related find: Big House White in little bottles!
And by my choice of dinner time TV-watching.
13 comments:
Oh you better believe I am SO making those shrimp and pesto things next week!!! Yum!
you got that recipe from r ray didn't ya or giada!
i have tried it and its YUM
actually I based this on a Real Simple recipe I found that called for caesar dressing instead of the vinaigrette and less basil....but what can I say great minds think alike :-P
My TASTEBUGS are excited.
That sounds very spring-y :) And the green is so vibrant.
I Love lovelove spinach/basil pesto...I'll have to try this recipe...no pine nuts?
Ah, gourmet food & trashy TV. LOVE it! :)
I'm about to eat my computer, that looks so good.
that looks FANTASTIC!! i'm so glad i jumped over here from PSD!
ok, now a report back - absolutely delicious! we weren't as creative (i don't own a cuisinart), so we just used store-bought pesto (blasphemy, i'm aware), lo-carb tortillas (did you know those suckers are only 50 calories and EIGHT grams of fiber? i wanted to warn Chad when he wanted a second one, but i'm kind of interested in whether he'll reap the effects of too much fiber), and parmesan cheese (we aren't fans of crumbly cheese..feta, blue, goat..blah) and they were fanTASTIC! probably 10 times worse for us then your delicious creations, but i was very proud because they came out looking really similar! i literally looked at the recipe today and made it tonight because it looked so darn good :)
haha I definitely don't hate on store bought pesto - I keep a jar on hand in case I want some and don't feel like making it! And I think it's great that you reworked the recipe to suit your taste - that's what it's all about!
I made this pesto last night with rice wine vinegar, and added pine nuts...I love the *zip* from the vinegar!
That pesto is positively vibrant. Plus mini screw top wine bottles and Brett Michaels? What more could a girl ask for ;)
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