Lemon-Spinach Pesto

Lemon-Spinach Pesto with Whole Wheat Rotini is bright, flavorful, and costs only $1.53 for a main-dish serving using organic ingredients. The sauce alone costs just $1.42 a serving. It’s good on hot baked potatoes, crackers, green beans, peas, and more.

Adding lemon makes this spinach pesto almost as good as the queen of summer sauces: basil pesto. This recipe is easy, quick, and healthy as well as being mouth-wateringly good. It freezes well, so you can make it now and enjoy it during busy times ahead.

That cost includes a small container of Organic Girl spinach. You can cut the price further by getting a larger box of spinach, buying spinach at the farmers’ market, or growing your own.

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Craveable Lemon-Spinach Pesto

This bright, healthy spinach pesto will keep you energized through the cold months until summer, when the basil pesto rules. Spinach is 50% protein by calorie, one of the many unsung plant sources of "lean protein." Fresh lemon juice transforms this cool-weather pesto into a silver-medal winner. Using "nooch" instead of Parmesan cheese makes this pesto vegan, low-fat, and cholesterol-free.

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Course

Main Dish

Cuisine

Italian

Prep Time

20 minutes

Servings

servings (2 cups) MetricUS Imperial

Ingredients

• 4 cloves garlic
• 6 cups fresh spinach 180 grams
• 1 cup walnuts 100 grams
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast also called nooch
• 1 medium lemon zest and juice, or two tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• freshly ground black pepper optional
• 6 cups dry whole wheat rotini cooked and drained

Course Main Dish Cuisine Italian Prep Time 20 minutes Servings servings (2 cups) MetricUS Imperial Ingredients 4 cloves garlic 6 cups fresh spinach 180 grams 1 cup walnuts 100 grams 1/4 cup nutritional yeast also called nooch 1 medium lemon zest and juice, or two tablespoons lemon juice 1/4 cup water 1/2 cup olive oil 1/2 teaspoon salt freshly ground black pepper optional 6 cups dry whole wheat rotini cooked and drained

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Instructions

1. Drop garlic into a food processor set up with the stainless steel blade and the blade spinning at top speed. Turn the machine off when garlic quits bouncing, after about 10 seconds.
2. Put roughly half the spinach into the food processor, then add walnuts, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, water, and salt. (If you have a large food processor, you can add all the spinach at once.) Process on high, pouring in olive oil as the blade spins. Scrape down the processor's sides with a spatula as needed. Add remaining spinach and poke it down a bit into the pesto, then process until almost smooth. Taste, then add a few grinds of pepper or adjust other seasonings if desired, processing to combine.

   
3. Toss lemon-spinach pesto with hot pasta or use as a spread on crackers or sandwiches. Pesto keeps refrigerated for four days or frozen for a year.

Recipe Notes

I usually make a batch or two of pesto at a time, but just enough pasta for a meal or two.

The nutritional analysis below includes lemon-spinach pesto and whole-wheat rotini.

Nutrition Facts

Craveable Lemon-Spinach Pesto

Amount Per Serving

Calories 576 Calories from Fat 333

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 37g 57%

Saturated Fat 4g 20%

Polyunsaturated Fat 16g

Monounsaturated Fat 14g

Cholesterol 56mg 19%

Sodium 424mg 18%

Potassium 515mg 15%

Total Carbohydrates 50g 17%

Dietary Fiber 11g 44%

Sugars 2g

Protein 18g 36%

Vitamin A 42%

Vitamin C 15%

Calcium 9%

Iron 26%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.