Pasta… you can never go wrong with pasta, especially pesto. Then, if you add peas and some roasted pine nuts? It’s a whole new level of delicious. This dish is a tradition in my family and is always made in mass quantities because there’s never enough. Hence, the two pounds of pasta! If you don’t want to make that much pasta, you can split the recipe in half or store the pesto mixture for later use.
Pesto Pasta and Peas
1 pound bow tie pasta
1-pound fusilli pasta
1/4-cup olive oil
1 1/2 cup pesto
1 10-ounce package frozen spinach thawed squeezed dry
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/4 cups mayonnaise ( I don’t use that much)
1/2-cup Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 cup green peas
1/3-cup pine nuts
Salt and pepper to taste
Cook the pasta for 10 to 12 minutes, drain, and toss the pasta into bowl with the olive oil. While you let the pasta cool, puree the pesto, spinach and lemon juice. Add mayo and continue to puree. Next, add the pesto mixture to the cooled pasta (I add a little at a time, and I always seem to have some left over!) Finally, add the Parmesan cheese, peas, pine nuts, with salt and pepper sprinkled on top. Fold ingredients into the bowl until the pasta is lightly coated, serve at room temperature and enjoy!