What's for Dinner: Pasta with Spinach Pesto

Though I definitely love me some Barilla tomato and basil pasta sauce, it's currently off the approved list. So, fresh pesto to the rescue! I am a huge fan of basil pesto, but never seem to have it on hand when the pasta urge hits. Luckily, I do seem to always have iron-rich spinach on hand, which is the main ingredient in this recipe, featured in a recent issue of Real Simple magazine. Pesto is super simple to make, especially if you have a food processor. Just toss in a few cloves of garlic (I always err on "the more garlic, the merrier" side), walnuts (or toasted pine nuts); give it a whirl, then add in the spinach with a generous glug of olive oil. Add in some freshly grated Parmesan, give it another whirl, and it's done. For a little extra zest, I also squeezed in some lemon juice this time around. After the pasta was finished cooking, I tossed it with about a tablespoon or so of pesto and garnished the dish with some lemon zest and another bit of grated Parmesan cheese. Any leftover pesto can be kept in the fridge for a few days and up to a week.