Did you know you can make pesto from just about anything? Well, not anything, but a lot of things. Arugula, parsley, red bell peppers, of course basil, and one of my favorites – spinach. I accidentally discovered spinach pesto one day, while looking for something to put on my homemade pizza. I’m probably way in the minority here, but I actually prefer my pizza not red. Minus the red tomato-y pizza sauce. I like it either green or white (just cheese!). So, I was looking for something greenish to put on my pizza and I had some baby spinach that needed to be used up. I love basil pesto on pizza, so why not spinach?
So, I did some googling and research on all sorts of pesto recipes and came up with a formula that worked for me. It was perfect! I spread the spinach pesto on the rolled out pizza, topped it with some provolone cheese and some leftover rotisserie chicken and a generous sprinkle of red pepper flakes. Fabulous! In one joyous moment spinach pesto became my new favorite pizza topper. Now, whenever I have bags of baby spinach that need to be used up, I whip up a batch of spinach pesto, put it in cute 4 oz jelly jars 
- 8 oz spinach, washed and dried
- ½ cup walnuts (or pine nuts)
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup of olive oil
- 1 clove of garlic, roughly chopped
- Put the garlic in the bowl of a food processor and top with the rest of the ingredients, except for the olive oil. Pulse about 5 times to incorporate, then slowly add the olive oil as you process the pesto. As soon as it gets to your desired texture (I like mine a little chunky), stop. Spoon into jars, leaving headspace (if you are freezing them).
I’m linking up with:
Full Plate Thursday @ Miz Helen’s Country Cottage
Spinach pest for pizza sounds great! I love experimenting with pestos, and the bright green from spinach is so pretty. I bet it will be amazing with those slow roasted tomatoes!
Hi Pam,
I can’t wait to try your Spinach Pesto, I will have some fresh spinach ready in the garden in just a few days. Hope you are having a great day and thanks so much for sharing your awesome post with Full Plate Thursday.
Come Back Soon!
Miz Helen
Yes pesto everything, even nuts. In fact a did a peach pesto pasta this summer that was fantastic. Unfortunately I didn’t keep notes when I made it and have not been able to recreate it just right. Maybe next summer. GREG
I have to try this too:)
Hi Pam,
I know I was here before because I pinned your wonderful Spinach Pesto to my Spinach board. But, I must admit, I’m not really sure I told you how good it looks. Just in case, it looks amazing!!!
Thanks for sharing, Pam…
P.S. I was just at your Google+ page and wanted to thank you for posting that Pinterest tip. I knew things were looking different I just couldn’t put my finger on it. Thanks, Pam. I really hope they don’t “mess” around with Pinterest too much…I’ll be gone if they do.
I need to try this, spinach is not a vegetable I reach for very often.
It’s perfect! Let me know what you think!
I LOVE spinach pesto! It ends up being so much more vibrantly green than basil pesto!
I know!