..Friday Favorite: Accidental Spinach-Walnut Sauce

January 6, 2012


This delicious sauce was a happy accident.  We were going to make pesto with my fancy shmancy new food processor that Mike got me for Christmas (which is normally made up of basil and pine nuts) but when we got to the grocery store they were completely out of fresh basil and the only pine nuts there were in a big expensive bulk bag.  With the wind completely taken out of my sails I figured spinach must be some kind of relative of the leafy green herb and I usually like walnuts in spinach salads so we went for it.  While I just winged it at the time, I just googled "spinach walnut sauce" and it turns out my favorite food host Rachel Ray has a recipe that's pretty close to our little concoction! (ours is detailed below)

Ingredients
1 full bushel of fresh spinach leaves
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
2 garlic cloves
Salt & pepper to taste
1/2 cup (or so) parmesan cheese
1/2 cup (or so) extra virgin olive oil

Directions
Place garlic cloves and walnuts into food processor and blend them for a couple seconds first.  Then add the in the spinach (roughly chopped and de-stemmed) and turn it back on.  Slowly drizzle in about half the olive oil while it is blending. After that blends for about a minute add in the parmesean cheese, salt, and pepper to the mixture.  Slowly drizzle in the rest of the olive oil while the sauce blends.

This made a TON of sauce, we used two full boxes of pasta with it.  These photos were actually taken from the second round dinner which was just as yummy. We paired it with some baked asparagus and sauteed chicken.  Lots of awesome veggie nutrients!


12 comments

  1. ok that sounds DELICIOUS!
    i love spinach so this is something
    i look forward to trying out

    have a great weekend love


    xoxo
    Melina ♥
    www.onlyaflightaway.blogspot.com

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  2. Oooh that looks so yummy!! I definitely need to try this :)

    Happy Friday!!

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  3. YUMMYYYYY!!!!! I will try this asap

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  4. Looks SO good. So SO good. I don't think you've posted something that my stomach hasn't growled at :)

    Annie
    The Other Side of Gray

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  5. i want to make this immediately!! looks SO good!!!!
    xo TJ

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  6. I'm curious...did it taste just like pesto or were the flavors pretty different?

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  7. I had to check yours out after you made a comment on our version... we really are on the same mindset, lol! I've never tried it with spinach but I will have to do that next time

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  8. Your blog is lovely, that pasta looks yummy! Thanbks for your comment on my blog! We should follow each other!

    xx
    E

    http://byebye-blondie.blogspot.com/

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  9. I'm a new follower :) the pasta looks delicious! I can eat pasta every day (probably not a good idea) but I love it!

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  10. Oooh, popping this in my recipe folder it looks so delicious - I'm a huge fan of pasta dishes!! Yay, can't wait to make this, and wishing you a lovely weekend, sweet lady. xo V

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  11. That looks gorgeous! So glad to have found your blog!

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xx E.