This easy pasta salad is packed with nourishing greens and basil along with delicious cherry tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. This recipe comes to us from our friends at PastaFits.
Serves 8
Cooking Tip of the Week: Tossing cooked pasta with olive oil will prevent it from sticking together if you’re not going to add the sauce right away. But if the sauce is ready by the time the pasta is cooked, go ahead and toss it with the sauce instead!
Food for Thought: Pesto gets its name from the Italian word pestare which means “to crush.” Traditionally (before food processors and electricity were invented!) it was made by crushing all of the ingredients together with a mortar and pestle. These days, it’s much more convenient to make pesto in a food processor or blender, but you could still try using a mortar and pestle if you are up for the challenge!
Family Dinner Conversation Starter: What do you think is the most useful invention in the world? What would the world be like if it had never been invented?
Ingredients:
1 lb. fusilli (or other short pasta shape)
3 cups baby spinach, roughly chopped
1 cup fresh basil, roughly chopped
½ cup walnuts, toasted
1 clove garlic
¼ cup parmesan cheese or dairy-free cheese
4 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup grape tomatoes, chopped into small pieces
¼ cup part skim mozzarella cheese or dairy-free cheese, cut into small pieces
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Adult: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the fusilli according to package directions. Drain and reserve with a splash of olive oil.
Together: Thoroughly wash and dry all of the produce.
Kid: Place the spinach, basil, walnuts, garlic, parmesan cheese, and half of the oil in food processor.
Together: Pulse until coarsely chopped. Add the rest of the oil and pulse until smooth.
Kid: Fold pesto, tomato, and mozzarella into pasta.
Together: Add salt and pepper to taste. Keep refrigerated until its ready to be served.