Palak/Spinach Smooth Pesto For Durum Wheat Penne Pasta
Spinach is also known as Palak in Hindi and is considered as one of the superfoods easily available to the Humans.
Spinach is full of nutrients like Vitamin A, C, K, Iron, Folate and Potassium. It is said that every 100 grams of Spinach has nearly 2.9 grams of protein[ according to webMD]. It also has fiber.
Women with PCOD are always recommended to include leafy greens in their diets, most preferably through Salads but it is not always feasible to make some. So, it is better to include them in any form
possible to keep the haemoglobin levels in healthy count.
You can also make this pesto by sautéing the Spinach/Palak. The first thought that came to mind was
boiling them in water because I am used to that cooking method.
Regular pesto also uses lemon juice as an ingredient. Since I always have cooking vinegar at hand, I used it instead.
Traditionally, pesto is made in mortar and pestle but this recipe uses regular Indian mixer jar. I learned this from watching Pasta Grannies. I always thought pesto is made only with Spinach but a granny used Purslane leafy greens in one of the episodes.
I tried hand pounded mint-walnut pasta last week and I was not happy with the way my pestle was doing the job. Hence, I tried to make this pesto with Spinach in mixer.
I did not expect the pesto to be this smooth; it made me think of emulsion!
This pesto can be used on anything from regular white pasta to instant noodles (instead of packet masala). I even wanted to taste it with rice. Ha!
Spinach/Palak smooth green pesto is easy to make and fuels you for days.
INGREDIENTS
Penne durum wheat pasta – 49g
Palak/Spinach (regular size. With stem.) – 150g
Walnuts – 15g
Garlic – 5g
Gingelly/Sesame oil – 10g
Cooking White vinegar – 1/8 teaspoon
Tablesalt – 1/8 teaspoon
RECIPE INSTRUCTIONS
Step 1: Rinse the Spinach twice, strain the water, break the whole Spinach(with the stem) them into three or more pieces. Cook them in enough water for 5 minutes. Strain the water through a metal strainer.
Place under a fan to cool down.
Step 2: Meanwhile cook the durum penne pasta according to packet instruction. Pasta used in this recipe was required to be cooked for 13 minutes in salted water.
Step 3: In a mixer grinder or a small food processor, add the walnut and garlic. Run the appliance until they are coarsely ground.
Step 4: Add the cooked and cool Spinach, vinegar, oil and salt to the jar and once again run the appliance until you get a smooth paste. Scrape down the sides if necessary.
Step 5: Add the appropriate amount of this pesto or Palak/Spinach green sauce to the cooked and hot pasta. Top it off with coarsely pounded walnut and enjoy!
NOTES
Adjust salt to your preference.
The amount of pesto produced depends on the water content of the cooked Spinach.
The pesto resulted from this recipe is approximately 115g. You can store this in an airtight glass jar overnight. Cooking of the pesto with a little water is mandatory if it is stored for later use. Do not use
them right out of the jar.
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Bye!
