Pasta Salad with Pepita Spinach Pesto
Happy Father's Day, everyone. We had some beautiful prayers at church this morning about loving and appreciating the good fathers in our lives and forgiving the ones who failed. Whatever your story tonight, I hope you had a peaceful day.
It just occurred to me that some of you don't know my husband Yancey. I mention him all over the place and just assume you know what a stellar man, father, and husband he is. It is so easy for me to celebrate Father's Day with him around. I'm a good mother, but he was born to be a father. We started dating when we were 17, and even then, he would talk about having kids and all the things he couldn't wait to do with them. He is one of the most in-the-moment people I've ever known, and children know this. Wherever we've gone, whatever our age or stage of life, kids flock to him. Is that sexy or what? I hold court with the adults on whatever topic is fascinating me at the moment (usually food) while he is off organizing a game somewhere. When we were in high school, two things attracted me to him above all else: 1) He declined plans on weekends to babysit his sister and 2) He tutored developmentally delayed students, and they would hang out at his locker between classes. Happy Father's Day, babe. I love you more than all the food blogs in the world.
And, of course, I can't post on Father's Day without talking about my dad. I was born on Father's Day, and he loves to tell me how he stayed up the night I was born, wallpapering the closet that my crib was in. And how he used to sing, "She's Sarah Kathleen, she's the world's smallest queen, she's quite the gal. She can sit on Papa's knees, she can play with Papa's keys, she's quite the gal." Except I was, by no means, little. I was spherical, just like my kids were when they were babies. But he loved my chubby self from babyhood onward in the most devoted, with-abandon way a father ever could. In high school, he used to pick me up once a week in his 1959 Rambler American and we'd go on a date. Usually to Tony's Coffee for a coffee milkshake. He'd pull out his Italian leather coin purse and always had enough for whatever I wanted. Happy Fathers Day, Papa. I love you more than all the coffee milkshakes in the world.
Finally, the recipe. We went to the station for the first time tonight and all the families were invited for a Father's Day BBQ. Delicious food--grilled flank steak, a few beautiful salads, perfect fruit. I cleaned out my fridge today (it's Sunday!) and couldn't believe I actually had enough to make something. The inventory:
- spinach
- kefir cheese (a kind of Middle Eastern sour cream)
- tomatoes
- fresh mozzarella
- pecorino
- two small zucchinis
- basil from my garden
- pasta
- pepitas from the freezer
So, a pasta salad with spinach pesto, some basil thrown in for flavor. The sort of thing I'll likely be bringing to BBQ's and picnics all summer. Nothing jaw-dropping, but definitely delicious, and I used up every bit in the fridge (along with the carrot soup I made, but more on that later).
I can't really describe what it was like to finally get a tour of the station. It's the first time the kids and I have been there. We saw Yancey's dorm room, the lights that flash in the middle of the night when there's a call, the ambulance he's been driving, boots and gear waiting for live bodies just like they show on TV. Loretta kept covering her ears just in case a loud noise ensued (she is very sensitive to noise), and Wyatt could not be stopped. Climbing into the engine and ladder trucks, inspecting each piece of equipment. A six-year-old's dream. Yet another reason to celebrate this Father's Day. Who would have guessed that we'd go from junior prom to this love-filled, dream-fulfilling 14 years together (and almost 20 since we first started dating!). Okay. Here's the recipe. I hope you get to share it with someone you love.
Pasta Salad with Pepita Spinach Pesto
You could use just spinach here, though it won't have as good a flavor. If you do that, throw in a little more garlic and cheese. And you can use other kinds of nuts (pepitas were what I had around) or no nuts at all. Use EITHER nuts or cheese, if you can, or you won't have anything to bind it together.
4 big handfuls fresh spinach
1 c. fresh basil
1 clove garlic
1/4 c. pepitas (or walnuts, pine nuts, etc.)
1/4 c. finely grated parmesan or pecorino
salt
3 Tb. olive oil
3/4 c. sour cream
1 lb. pasta (fuselli, bowties, penne)
4 small tomatoes (Campari or Roma) cut into manageable wedges
1/2 lb. fresh mozarella, torn into chunks if it's the big kind
2 small zucchini, cut into paper-thin rounds (preferably in a food processor)
Extra basil leaves, olive oil, pecorino, freshly ground pepper, and pepitas for the top
Combine first 7 ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until smooth. Combine with sour cream and set aside.
Boil pasta in lots of boiling, salted water. When it's 1 minute away from being done, throw in the zucchini. Drain the pasta and zucchini together, and run cold water over.
In a big bowl, toss pasta/zucchini mixture with pesto/sour cream mixture and a little bit of the mozzarella and tomatoes. I just use my hands. Top with the rest of the tomatoes and mozzarella, then garnish with a few more fresh basil leaves, some pecorino or parmesan shavings (use a vegetable peeler), a few more pepitas, and a drizzle of your best olive oil. Sprinkle some coarse salt and freshly ground pepper over.
June 21, 2009
Reader Comments (22)
I'm so happy for this recipe, because I just bought fresh spinach and basil. I also have pepitas and parmesan. I don't have zucchini or mozzarella or kefir, but substitutions are easy to find instead. Thanks again and this sounds perfect for tomorrow's lunch or dinner?
This is making me so hungry! I'll have to go in and eat some more of your delicious Thow 'er In There...I will read this all more when I have time. I remember Papa's song too...sweet. Love that little chunk with his Poppa! Check out my latest sketch. I mention you and your food all over it! Plan to have food sketches all week! xo.
The salad looks wonderful! Pepitas are my favorite seeds at the moment. Thanks for sharing. This seems like such a refreshing and quick meal.
I enjoyed reading about your family. They sound like amazing fathers :)
We already seem to have a weird number of things in common. I don't think I knew yet that you married your high school sweetheart, like me. I'm sure that has NOTHING to do with what our fathers had in common...
Sarah,
Where did you get the pecarino around our neighborhood?
What a sweet post. Sounds like you found a husband as caring and generous around kids as your own father is. They say girls marry their fathers. Cheers to you for having such inspiring men in your life.
I think pecorino is the same thing as romano. In fact, I think the term is pecorino romano. I think.
Hi - I came across your blog today and enjoyed it a lot. I'm actually hungry again now. However, it was the mention about the stage of life that triggered my Google alert service to send me here.
I'm actually looking for people and writers to share their wisdom, thoughts, experiences and recipes from their stage(s) of life. I think our readers would benefit from your perspective.
Please reach out to me via our site or my blog if you're interested in contributing to our project. We'd love to help promote your own blog through the process of course.
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Stage of Life.com
Thank you, Sarah, for once again providing my dinner plans. Tomorrow night, here we come! We're going to have 90 degree days here, so I need to use up as much garden spinach as I can before it bolts. (By the way, your mom's cookies and your rhubarb harvest crisp are en route to Holland. My Dutch visitors are flying home and these were big enough hits that they wanted to take the recipes with them and convert them to metric. They've got your url!)
Thanks, Sarah, for your kind words yesterday about me, your father. I started my Father's Day sermon with the story that beats all - your birth on that very day. I knew no one could top it, and I took advantage of my pulpit privilege to engage in a little show of public exultation. I'm glad that I have two granddaughters with whom I can continue the dating tradition. And of course none of your readers are surprised that you mentioned the cuisine of our weekly outings. Next time your in town, let's go to Tony's for a coffee milkshake. I still have the Italian leather coin purse. With just the right amount of change.
You're right, PDS! You can get it at almost any grocery store, though it's much cheaper at PFI, Costco, or Trader Joe's. Oh--Borracchini's, too.
I am LOVING your food sketches.
Hi Kamille! So nice to have you as a reader. And I'm impressed that you have pepitas around...
How totally flattering! An international audience!
First time I've been here ... love the sweet Father's day tributes to the men in your life. Your "Pasta Salad with Pepita Spinach Pesto" sounds awesome! I'll be back!!!!
Oh ... and I LOVE your windowsill shot with all the ingredients lined up in a row ...
Hi Marianne! So happy to have you as a reader.
happy father's day to two great fathers. you are a lucky lady with two really lucky kids, and i know you know that! i will be having this salad this week, guaranteed!
i still haven't made any of your recipes that call for pesto. i'm not sure why. i guess i have always thought of it being too complicated to make...especially if you need a food processor to make it (which I rarely use). perhaps one of these weekends i'll just go for it!
Yeah I keep a slew of nuts in my freezer, which makes it super handy when making a new recipe like yours:)
Nice salad! The pepita spinach pesto sounds really good as well!
i love this pasta salad sarah! i had most of what your recipe calls for laying about, and in true leftover-ist fashion i tried to substitute and work around the things i didn't have. and in true karl fashion i was a bit careless and overlooked a couple of things during the process but it still tasted good in my humble opinion. and most importantly, i will sleep an extra few minutes tomorrow morning because now lunch is already to go for tomorrow! your blog kicks serious ass.