Spinach Pesto

Alright, I know our blog has seen better days but figured I would share this super easy, super yummy recipe with you since all of my kiddos gobbled it down last night - and my hubby, which is a miracle.

Spinach Pesto
2 cups fresh baby spinach
2 cups loosely packed basil leaves
1 cup grated Romano cheese
2 Tbsp. fresh oregano
2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
1 Tbsp. Lemon juice
2 tsp grated lemon peel
1 cup olive oil

Place the first six ingredients in a food processor; cover and pulse until chopped.  Add the walnuts, lemon juice, and peel; cover and process until blended.  While processing, gradually add oil in a steady stream to desired consistency.  Serve with pasta or transfer sauce to clean ice cube trays.  cover and freeze for up to 1 month.  To thaw frozen pesto, put cube in the refrigerator for 3 hours.  Serve with pasta.

I loved this recipe because it got my boys to eat spinach - they still aren't convinced that it's yummy.  I didn't toast the nuts in the recipe, and I used pecans instead of walnuts because that is what I had on hand.  I used the pesto on the following recipe.

Pesto Ravioli with chicken
2 tsp olive oil
1 lb chicken, sliced into strips
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 (9 oz) package ravioli
3 small zucchini, cut into 1/4 inch slices
1 large red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/4 cup pesto
Freshly grated Parmesan Cheese, if desired.

Heat oil in skillet and cook chicken for about 4 minutes, turning occasionally, until brown.  Remove chicken from skillet and place in an oven safe dish.  (Put chicken in warm oven and let set until ready to add to the rest of the recipe.)  Add broth and ravioli to skillet.  Heat to boiling; reduce heat.  Cover and simmer about 4 minutes or until ravioli are tender.  Stir zucchini, bell pepper, and chicken into ravioli.  Cook over medium high heat for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are crisp-tender and chicken is no longer pink in center.  Toss with pesto and sprinkle with cheese.

I used a tomato instead of red bell peppers in this recipe because my kids aren't too fond of peppers.  The tomato tasted so yummy.  I also tried out a new brand of ravioli from Safeway and was pretty pleased. - Open Nature Spinach and Cheese Whole Wheat ravioli.  It's organic and whole wheat and had decent flavor.  The boys loved them!  Enjoy!

Repurposing...

I love the idea of recipe clubs and of this recipe blog so much that I'm having a tough time letting go of it. I miss Oly2 a LOT LOT but since no one over there has picked up the torch of this blog I'm thinking of re-purposing it as a cyber recipe exchange so that people from all over can participate and all us ex-Oly2-gals can get our fix of that wonderful ward :)

Any objections?