I like pasta salad, but I really hate the kind with the little red peppers in it. I'm much more of a pesto kind of girl. This is DEE-licious! I can eat this for lunch every day for a week, and I don't get sick of it at all! It's perfect for potlucks and picnics and such too. Or you can add some chicken and make it a main dish! The possibilities are endless. Yum, yum, yum.
Recipe adapted from here.
Ingredients:
3/4 pound bow tie pasta
3/4 pound tri-color rotini pasta
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 cups pesto (you can make your own, or use pre-made. I like the Classico jarred kind)
1 10oz package frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 1/4 cups light mayo
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 cups frozen peas, defrosted
1/2 cup pine nuts
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp pepper
Directions:
1. Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling water for 10-12 minutes. Drain, and toss into a bowl with the olive oil. Cool to room temperature, tossing every once and a while to prevent sticking!
2. In a food processor or blender, puree the pesto, spinach, and lemon juice. Add the mayo and puree.
3. Add the pesto mixture to the cooled pasta, then add the Parmesan, peas, pine nuts, salt, and pepper.
4. Mix well. Refrigerate before serving.
Defrosting peas
Pesto mixture ingredients
Sidenote: I LOVE my blender. I haven't used my food processor at all since I got this blender b/c the blender does it so well! It's a KitchenAid.
Pasta in olive oil
Pesto sauce mixture!
Ta-da!
