Pasta Pesto and Pea Salad – Ina Fridays

Share with:


Pea salad

 

 And Spring arose on the garden fair,
Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere;
And each flower and herb on Earth’s dark breast
rose from the dreams of its wintry rest.

—P B Shelley

It’s finally spring like in Colorado. Balmy sunshine one day and almost freezing the next and some high speed winds thrown in in-between. My life these days is almost like Colorado spring time weather. Peaceful and quiet now, full of high energy sometimes and bracing the winds at others. But I am not complaining. It’s just that when life has other plans, I don’t get to blog as much.

A couple of weeks ago my daughter fractured her foot. She has been brave about the injury and doesn’t complain much and has tried to stay as active as she can. Unfortunately the injury means that her spot in the Final Show of her Aerial Dance is in jeopardy. It’s the biggest show of the season and she worked all year towards it. She cried (A LOT) the day the Doc told her she has a fracture. When he asked if the fracture was hurting, she told him, “Well ya it is, but what hurts most is that you will put me in a cast and I won’t be able to perform in my show.” He then had to really work hard at earning her acceptance to go ahead with the cast.

And I have been working to keep this brave kid in good cheer. She still goes for the practices and conditions her upper body, learns the choreography and is staying positive. In fact her optimism is infectious. Even though I know she needs to have some physical therapy before she can go back up on those silks, I sometimes feel that may be she will pull it off because she is so determined, so focused and so brave.

I am hoping that in two weeks from today, she will be back on those silks and flying high. It just breaks my heart to know she may or may not be on the show and knowing how hard she, her team and coaches worked all year for this show. Hoping and praying that she is back on her feet for the show.

In order to spread some good cheer around the house, I have mostly been baking brownies, cupcakes and the likes in addition to feeding her a bone soup made from a very ancient apothecary recipe, to help her foot heal faster. In addition to that we are including veggies into every single meal. And she loves a pasta salad with vegetables thrown in. So it was a really easy decision when I had to make a dish for Ina Fridays. ( The Friday turned into a Sunday ;))

Pea salad-2

Ina’s Pasta Pesto Pea salad has all the ingredients my daughter loves and she enjoyed this salad very much. I did dial it down on the fat content, but it was still very flavorful and went very well with the spring time weather we have been having for the past couple of days.

Stop in this Friday or beyond  and see what all of our fine writers are cooking up.  All writers will not participate every month, but check out the blogs anyway.  If you’d like to participate on a monthly basis, email Alyce at afmorgan53@yahoo.com.   If you’d like to join in occasionally, just follow the prompt for the “linky” or blog hop and add your post – Ina Garten recipes only, please.
.
  •   Alyce @ More Time at the Table
  •   Anna @ Cheese with Noodles
  •   Ansh @  Spice Roots 
  •   Barbara @ Moveable Feasts  
  •   Bhavna @ Just a Girl From AAmchi Mumbai..
  •   Linda,  @ Tumbleweed Contessa
  •   Mary @ The Egg Farm
  •   Minnie @ The Lady 8 Home
  •   Mireya @ My Healthy Eating Habits
  •   Patti @ Comfy Cuisine
  •   Peggy@ Pantry Revisited
  •   Rocky Mountain Woman @ Rocky Mountain Woman
  •   Veronica@ My Catholic Kitchen

    Pasta Pesto and Pea Salad – Ina Firdays

    Ingredients

    • 1 cup bow tie pasta
    • 1 cup Fusilli pasta
    • 1/4 cup pesto recipe follows
    • 1 C frozen spinach defrosted and squeezed dry
    • 1/4 cup olive oil
    • 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
    • 1/2 C frozen peas defrosted
    • 2 Tbs pine nuts
    • salt to taste
    • Black pepper to taste

    Pesto

    • 1/4 cup walnuts
    • 1/4 cup pignoli pine nuts
    • 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
    • 5 cups fresh basil leaves packed
    • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
    • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
    • 1 1/2 cups olive oil

    Instructions

    Make the Pesto

    1. Process the walnuts, pinenuts, and garlic in a food processor for about 20 seconds. Add the basil leaves, salt, and pepper. With the processor running, slowly pour the olive oil into the bowl and process until the pesto is thoroughly pureed. Store in an airtight container.

    Make the Salad

    1. Cook the fusilli and bow ties separately until they are al dente. Drain and leave to cool.
    2. Blend the pesto, spinach, and lemon juice. Add in the olive oil and blend again.
    3. Add this blended pesto mixture to the cooled pasta and then add the peas, pinenuts, salt, and pepper. Mix well, season to taste, and serve at room temperature.

Share with: