Make this NOW!!!!!

Broccoli Pesto & Whole Wheat Pasta

I saw this recipe on 101 cookbooks and thought I'd try it. I made a few changes and must say it was delish... and I should warn you, I didn't actually use the exact amounts for the ingredients. It's probably a bad habit, but it's just too much work to measure.

INGREDIANTS:

4-6 cups of broccoli very small florets
1/2 cup walnuts
1/3 cup Parmesan, freshly grated
1 clove of garlic
juice of 1/2 a lemon (or some balsamic vinegar if you don't have lemon)
1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 box whole wheat pasta
3 large handfuls of spinach
1 container cherry or grape tomatoes halved
handful of oily black olives, pitted

more Parmesan for serving

DIRECTIONS:

Bring water to a boil.

While water is heating up, microwave the broccoli florets for a minute or two (just until you could poke it with a fork, but not too soft ), then rinse them in cold water to stop cooking and add some salt and pepper.

Put about 1/3 of the broccoli to the side, put the rest in food processor and puree it along with the walnuts, Parmesan, garlic, lemon juice and salt. Drizzle in the olive oil while still blending. Taste, adjust with more salt or lemon juice if needed and set aside. (NOTE: I'm pretty sure I used closer to 6 cups of broccoli, I like it - what can I say, but I didn't actually use more olive oil, which was a mistake, since it came out a little dry. So just watch it, and if it looks dry add more olive oil. You want it to look like... maybe the consistency of regular pesto. Or maybe hummus, if you've never made pesto, only not as smooth.)

Cook the pasta according to directions. Drain, transfer the hot pasta to a large bowl and stir in the tomatoes and raw spinach, it should wilt. Gently stir in about half of the pesto. Taste, add more pesto to your liking. Served topped with olives, the reserved broccoli florets, and a dusting of Parmesan cheese.

It seriously got better each day as a leftovers.