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recipe friday

Pesto Pea Salad

Once you have FRESH PESTO – you will never want anything else but it again!

Ingredients for Salad

  • 2 C frozen peas
  • 2 T pignolis, toasted
  • 2 ½ C baby spinach
  • 4 T pesto, (recipe follows)

Directions for Salad
Cook the peas in a pot of boiling salted water for 1 minute.
Immediately immerse the peas in a bowl of ice cold water, and drain when fully cooled.
To assemble, place the spinach leaves in a salad bowl.
Sprinkle the peas and pignolis over the spinach.
Add the pesto and toss.

Note: To toast pignolis, place them in a dry sauté pan and cook over medium heat for about 4 minutes, until evenly browned, tossing frequently.


Ingredients for Pesto
·         ¼ C walnuts
·         ¼ C pignolis
·         3 T diced garlic (9 cloves)
·         5 C fresh basil leaves, packed
·         1 tsp kosher salt
·         1 tsp freshly ground pepper
·         1 ½ C good olive oil
·         1 C freshly grated Parmesan

Directions for Pesto
Place the walnuts, pignolis, and garlic in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade (or blender).
Process for 30 seconds
Add the basil leaves, salt, and pepper.
With the processor running, slowly pour the olive oil into the bowl through the feed tube and process until the pesto is finely pureed.
Add the Parmesan and puree for a minute.
Serve, or store the pesto in the refrigerator with a thin film of olive oil on top (if not stored right, may turn brown)