Whole Wheat Pasta with Pea and Spinach Pesto

Fresh uncooked pasta sauces are one of my favorite things. I like to use all types of raw vegetables to make my sauces. This sauce is very clean, fresh and light. The toasted walnuts add a nice crunch and a little fattiness to the otherwise very low fat pasta sauce.

The raw spinach is included in this sauce for added nutrition and cancer fighting potential. I thought it might be nice to have the spinach in a savory dish instead of a smoothie today.

If you reduce or eliminate the water in this sauce it would make a nice spread for bruschetta or pizza. It would also be good with almond feta if you have that in the house.

Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Green Pea and Spinach Pesto
Serves 4 main dish servings

Ingredients:

13.25 ounces whole wheat spaghetti
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen and thawed green peas
2 cups raw spinach
1/4 cup packed basil leaves
Juice from one lemon
1 tablespoon green olives
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons of water
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/2 cup chopped walnut pieces, toasted

Directions:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add linguine and cook according to the package directions. When you add the pasta to the water stir it vigorously for 30 seconds to make certain it doesn’t clump together when it cooks. Reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water, then drain linguine and transfer to a bowl large enough that you can toss the pasta with the sauce.

Meanwhile, put peas, spinach, basil, lemon juice and olives into a food processor and pulse to make a paste. With the motor running, add oil and water in a steady stream. Season the pesto with salt and pepper to taste. Toss the hot spaghetti with pesto and enough pasta cooking water to make a thick sauce.

Top with walnuts and serve immediately.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 369
Calories From Fat (25%) - 92.4
Total Fat - 10.83g
Saturated Fat - 0.96g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 108.7mg
Potassium - 171.76mg
Total Carbohydrates - 59.05g
Fiber - 10.05g
Sugar - 4.98g
Protein - 12.53g

Comments:

I am happy with the nutritional statistics on this dish and the taste. This dish is light yet filling. I have leftovers for our lunch tomorrow. I think it should reheat fine in the microwave. If something needs to be tweaked in the reheating I will update this post tomorrow (Friday).