Artichoke & Spinach Pesto |

Artichoke & Spinach Pesto

August 7, 2013

As summer is starting to wind down, we all need some great recipes to use up our basil plants and while a plain basil pesto is a great option, this recipe is even better! Packed with bold flavors from spinach, basil, artichoke hearts & walnut it’s a healthy and unique version of a classic. We kept this dish vegan by tossing it with gluten-free pasta and not only was it was crazy good, it was really filling too! The original recipe called for making a roux with soy milk, vegan margarine and flour but since we only had vanilla soy milk in the fridge I skipped this step. I would imagine it just serves to thin the pesto out a bit but I liked how thick ours was.

Recipe adapted from The Part-Time Vegan cookbook.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine 1 cup fresh basil leaves, 1 cup spinach leaves, 3 cloves of garlic, 1/2 cup walnuts, the juice and zest from 1/2 lemon, 1 tsp salt & 1/2 tsp pepper (1). Pulse until the mixture is almost smooth (2) then add in 2 tbsp olive oil and 1 cup chopped artichoke hearts (3). Pulse until the artichokes are diced very small (4) and you’re done! We cooked a package of gluten-free pasta according to the directions and then heated up the pesto a little in the pot we cooked the pasta in (5) and then put the pasta back in to toss to combine (6)!

If you like this recipe, be sure to check out the Vegan section under the Recipes tab in the menu (found HERE) for more!

Artichoke & Spinach Pesto

Serves 4

1 cup fresh basil leaves

1 cup fresh spinach

3 cloves garlic

1/2 cup walnuts

Juice & zest from 1/2 lemon

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 tbsp olive oil

1 cup chopped artichoke hearts

1 package gluten-free pasta

In the bowl of a food processor combine the basil, spinach, garlic, walnuts, lemon zest & juice, salt and pepper. Pulse until almost smooth then add the olive oil and artichokes. Pulse until artichokes are diced into small pieces. Cook pasta according to package and toss with the pesto.