Spinach and Basil Pesto Farfalle

I  harvested some fresh basil from the greenhouse garden today and with the weather in the 80’s it seemed like the perfect opportunity to whip up a batch of spinach and basil pesto farfalle pasta salad.

I don’t know about you, but I love a good pasta salad for dinner.

Ingredients

2 cups fresh spinach leaves, well-washed and stemmed
1/2 cup fresh basil
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
3 garlic cloves
¼ – ½ cup extra virgin olive oil {depends on preference}
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon red crushed pepper flakes {totally optional}
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
½ pound Farfalle Pasta, cooked according to package directions and drained
extra Parmesan for garnish
1/8 cup pine nuts toasted for garnish

Directions
Cook the farfalle according to package directions. Drain, toss with a little olive oil and set
aside.

Next toast about 1/8 cup pine nuts until lightly golden and set aside for the garnish.For the pesto, toss the spinach, basil, garlic, salt, pepper, Parmesan, red crushed pepper and pine nuts into a food processor and pulse, slowly adding oil until the mixture is nice and smooth.

Toss the pesto mixture with the pasta, and garnish with pine nuts and Parmesan. Serve cold.