Whole Wheat Pasta With Spinach Pesto and Tomatoes

By PamCallan

Ingredients

• Ingredients:
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 8 oz. whole wheat or high protein penne or farfalle (bow-tie) pasta
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
• 2 tsp. chopped garlic
• 2 cups packed fresh basil leaves (4 oz.)
• 1 cup packed baby spinach (2 oz.)
• 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• 2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
• 1/4 cup lite mayonnaise
• 2 pints red or yellow grape tomatoes, halved
• Fresh basil for garnish

Details

Servings 8

Preparation

Step 1

Toast pine nuts in small sauté pan over medium heat, until golden and fragrant; 4-5 minutes. Set aside.

Cook pasta in 4 quarts boiling water until al dente. Reserve 1/4 cup cooking liquid before draining pasta. Place pasta in large shallow bowl, toss with 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil. Set aside.

In food processor, combine remaining 1 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil, 2 Tbsp. pine nuts, chopped garlic, basil, spinach, pepper, 1 tsp. salt, and lemon juice until smooth, scraping sides of bowl as necessary. Add Parmesan and mayonnaise, processing until thoroughly combined.

To serve, toss with pesto, adding reserved pasta liquid 1 Tbsp. at a time, until pesto evenly coats pasta. Fold in remaining 2 Tbsp. pine nuts and tomatoes. Garnish with basil and serve.