Pesto with Spinach and Basil

Access to farms this summer may have been the best part of getting out of the city.  
A 4 minute drive got us to Holbrook Farm in Bethel, CT. 

I came across Beck's recipe on her blog, DelishHouse.  She created a pesto sauce based on two Giada De Laurentiis recipes, one that called for only spinach and one that called for only basil.  The combination was nothing short of magical.

http://delicioushouse.blogspot.com/2009/07/giadas-garden-pesto-with-basil-baby.html

Giada's Garden Pesto with Basil, Baby Spinach, Pine Nuts, and Parmesean

I used 1 cup of basil and 1 cup of spinach for this recipe, but you can use all of either if you want to. Both are great! (though my preference is for the basil). If you are going to put this on pasta, be sure to reserve 1 cup of the pasta cooking liquid to mix in with the pesto and the noodles. It helps the sauce stick to the noodles. 

Ingredients
1 cup basil (packed)
1 cup baby spinach (packed)
2 garlic cloves
1/3 cup toasted pine nuts
1/2 cup grated parmesean cheese
3/4 cup good virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
In a food processor, combine 1 cup (packed) basil leaves with 1 cup (packed) baby spinach, 2 garlic cloves, 1/3 cup toasted pine nuts and 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Put the lid on your food processor and pulse to combine, until everything is chopped up into little bits. 

With the machine running, add 3/4 cup olive oil in a slow stream until mixture begins to emulsify and become liquid. Stop pouring at this point (they may be left over oil). 

Eat, Drink and Be Yummy!