Eat your greens: pesto pasta

My kids have never been the best raw veggie eaters.  We're working on it.  Until they start eating their salad, broccoli and green beans (I'm not giving up!), I have to be more creative with how I prepare and serve veggies, especially green ones, because those are scary.  Pesto pasta is one place we have succeeded.

I have found that it doesn't matter what kind of green I use for the base... I've used basil (in the summer when we have a lot), cilantro, parsley, spinach, even a spring greens mix.  Every batch I make is a little different, I just use whatever we have on hand.  I don't normally measure things out, but here's the basic recipe, you can change it to suit your taste:

Pesto Pasta

Ingredients

1 lb favorite pasta

4-8 cups greens (basil, cilantro, parsley, spinach or other greens)

1 cup nuts (pine nuts, cashews, peanuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, pecans, etc. or a combination)

1/3+ cup olive oil

1 cup shredded parmesan cheese

1 tsp. salt

Directions

Cook pasta until al dente.  While pasta is cooking, place remaining ingredients in a food processor.

I normally fill the food processor almost to the top with greens.  I was just running low.

Pulse until smooth.  Add more olive oil if needed.

When pasta has finished cooking, save a couple cups of the water and drain the rest.

Toss the pasta, pesto sauce and about 1 cup pasta water (plus or minus... add more water if the pesto isn't mixing well.)  Then serve!  I hope your kids (and you) like it as much as we do.