Fresh Green Beans, Potatoes with Pesto is one of best summer side dishes you can make. This is a classic Italian combination (often made in the Lombardy region with pasta). The combination just works, and it’s the pesto that brings it together. It tastes like summer but delivers comfort.

This is a dish served room temperature and can be your go to for a barbecue or summer potluck.

You can use your favorite pesto of which I have several recipes here, which I will list.

If you’re in a hurry a store bought pesto works, but if you’re like me and have a ton of basil this summer due to the daily rain we have been experiencing in Tennessee, you’ll want to use it.

What Kind of Potatoes for this Recipe? How to Cook!

You want to use Waxy Potatoes, but that will hold their shape and not fall apart.

I like to use yukon golds. But other choices include red potatoes and new potatoes.

• Put the potatoes into cold salted water.
• Bring to a boil, and then turn down to simmer.
• Test with a fork, which should easily penetrate the potatoes.
• Drain immediately.
• Make sure potatoes are same size. I will try to buy similar sized potatoes and just cut in half. As they cool, the skins will slip off. Then I will cut into large bite sized pieces.

How to Boil Greens Beans?

Rinse, trim and place in boiling water for 5 to 10 minutes, depending on how “done” you want your green beans. I like them somewhere in the middle. When

TIP: I threw the green beans in with the potatoes during the last six minutes of cooking, saving a pot.

Pesto (Many Variations)

I have made many different variations over the years, mainly changing out the nuts. Pine nuts are expensive, but I think they are an optimal choice. However, blanched (no skins) almonds, pistachios and macadamia nuts work well too. Another great option in this recipe would be a mint pesto (mix mint with basil) for a fresh take.

• Bucatini, Scallops with Almond Pesto
• Mint Pistachio Pesto
• Authentic Italian Pesto with Pine Nuts
• Shrimp with Macadamia Nut Pesto

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Green Beans Potatoes with Pesto

Boiled Potatoes with a Pesto, served at room temperature makes the most delicious Italian Potato Salad.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 1 pound golden yukon potatoes
• 1 cup Basil Pesto

Pesto

• 2 cups tightly packed fresh picked basil leaves
• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2-4 tablespoons starchy water from boiled potatoes
• 3 tablespoon pine nuts, blanched almonds or pistachios
• 2 cloves of garlic finely chopped before processing
• 1 teaspoon salt

Complete by Hand

• 1/2 cup freshly grated pecorino romano cheese
• 3 tablespoon butter optional

Instructions

• Scrub the potatoes clean. Remove any parts of skin that you would not want to eat. Leave skins on,
• Cut in half or if small no need to cut. Keep them even sized.
• Trim green beans.
• Put in large pot with cold water 2 inches above potatoes.
• Bring to boil. Turn down to a simmer, until the potatoes are fork tender.

  At this point add trimmed green beans.
• Drain but reserve 1/4 cup of starchy water for the pesto.
• The skins of the potatoes should slip off. Cut as needed into large bite sized .

Pesto

• Wash basil and pat with paper towels. Process garlic, pine nuts (or other choice of nuts) basil, olive oil for processor until you have a creamy consistency. At this point add in some hot starchy water, a tablespoon at a time to thin down just a bit.
• Add in the rest of the ingredients by hand, first adding in all cheese until it is really smooth. Then add butter in at the end. You can choose to skip the butter if you want to.
• Toss potatoes and green beans with pesto while they are still warm. Serve at room temperature.

The post Summer Side: Green Beans, Golden Potatoes with Pesto appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

What is a Caprese Salad?

When we think of caprese salad, we think of fresh tomatoes with mozzarella, a bit of fresh basil and some form of vinaigrette. I usually only like olive oil, salt and pepper with fresh tomatoes and mozzarella, but topping with fresh corn is a summer game changer. And, for a summer corn caprese salad, you don’t have to cook the corn, which adds sweetness and texture.

Ingredients for Corn Caprese Salad

• Ripe Tomatoes (can be almost any kind as long as they are ripe, sweet, juicy)
• Fresh mozzarella or burrata
• Fresh basil (or pesto)
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Fresh Corn
• Salt, Pepper

Pesto/Pistou Variations

The difference between pesto and pistou is basically the addition of nuts and cheese. A pistou is easy to make with just garlic, olive oil, basil, salt and pepper. It comes together very easily. However, you can also add a full pesto to this salad. Or, just use olive oil with freshly cut basil. This is more of an idea for caprese than anything you have to follow exactly. I’ve even thought of doing with an addition of fresh peaches along with the tomatoes.

I have several pesto recipes here at spinach tiger. This is my classic recipe, but I’ve been replacing the pine nuts with roasted, salted macadamia nuts (about 1/3 cup). You can also use pistachio nuts as I did in this recipe. You can replace the basil with fresh mint as I did here.

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More Pesto Recipes from Spinach Tiger

• Snapper with Pesto
• Grilled Lollypop Lamb Chop with Mint Pistou
• Ricotta Peas Pesto Appetizer
• Italian Potato Salad with Authentic Pesto
• Party Caprese Salad
• Caprese Party Sandwich
• Chicken with Creamy Pesto
• Seven Herb Pesto

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Corn Caprese Salad Recipe

Corn Caprese Salad with Tomatoes, Basil or Pesto, Fresh Mozzarella,

Course Salad

Cuisine Italian

Keyword caprese

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 8 ounces Fresh Mozzarella or burrata
• 3 fresh summer tomatoes
• Pistou Recipe Below enough to cover tomatoes and cheese
• 1/2 cup Pesto or
• 2 handfulls basil
• ⅓ cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 cob fresh corn

Pistou

• 2/3 cups fresh basil
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/3 extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions

• If using large tomatoes, cut in thick slices, serve immediately.
• Set cheese out about 30 minutes in advance to enjoy the flavor and texture.
• Toss with cheese, olive oil, basil, salt, pepper or pesto
• Slice corn off of the cob.
• If using pistou or pesto spoon over salad, then top with corn.
• Season with salt and pepper as needed.

Pistou

• Combine all ingredients. Add salt as needed.

The post Summer Caprese Salad with Fresh Corn appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

This time I made the macadamia nut pesto. They are probably the best substitute for pine nuts because they are sweet and don’t make pesto bitter like walnuts or other nuts sometimes can.

I made this recipe twice in the last week. The second time I used organic spaghetti from Trader Joe’s and served to company. Everyone loved it. I have to say it was definitely my favorite pasta dish of the year.

Ingredients for Macadamia Nut Pesto Pasta with Trader’s Joe’s Shrim

• Macadamia Nuts
• Garlic
• Olive Oil
• Fresh Basil
• Salt, Pepper
• Pecorino or Parmesan (optional)
• Pasta (spaghetti or for low carb this edamame option)
• Shrimp

The shrimp I use most often are the Argentinian shrimp from Trader Joe’s. They are peeled, frozen and sweet, ready to jump into any recipe. See below for all the ways I’ve used these shrimp.

Once you have the pesto made, a quick sauté of the shrimp while the pasta is boiling and you will have a fantastic dinner. I added in a few sliced grape tomatoes for color.

Make this Dish Keto, Gluten Free Friendly

Low Carb Option: If you want to keep your dish low-carb, you can use edamame pasta, hearts of palm pasta or zoodles. You can find edmame pasta it in various stores or on Amazon. I find it works well in this dish.

My Favorite Food Processor

I recently purchased a Braun food processor on Amazon that does just about everything I need in the kitchen and is amazing. It juices lemons, chops nuts, makes the BEST buttercream, heavy cream, chops, grates and for this recipe makes the best pesto. If you are in the market for a food processor, you will love this one. It costs a little more than the average processor, but it does so much more. Made in Europe with German engineering, it’s not like any food processor I’ve ever owned.

More Low Carb Shrimp Recipes from Spinach Tiger

• Keto Shrimp and Cheesy Cauliflower Grits
• Shrimp with Spaghetti Squash
• Shrimp Creole Cauliflower Rice
• Spicy Tuscan Shrimp
• Keto Shrimp Scampi
• Shrimp with Olives, Italian Spicy Zoodles

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Shrimp with Macadamia Nut Pesto

Fresh basil, macadamia nuts, lemon juice make a delightful summer pesto, perfect for shrimp.

Course Italian Sauce

Cuisine Italian

Keyword basil, cajun shrimp, edamame pasta, macadamia nuts, pesto

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 4 Servings

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

Macadamia Nut Pesto

• 2 cups tightly packed fresh picked basil leaves
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cups roasted salted macadamia nuts
• 1 cloves of garlic finely chopped before processing
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• dash of salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• For completion by hand
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup parmesan or Pecorino cheese optional

Shrimp and Pasta

• 1 pound shrimp, peeled, deveined
• 1/2 pound pasta
• 1/4 cup pasta water
• 8 grape tomatoes optional

Instructions

Macadamia Nut Pesto

• Place all ingredients except cheese into a food processor. You must chop the garlic first, which makes it much better to process and doesn’t become a juice.
• I don’t like to use a food processor for this because I can pulse it and keep some texture, which I prefer.
• I skipped the cheese in this recipe, but if using, add by hand at the end, before adding butter.
• Shrimp and Pasta
• Add oil to a frying pan and sautè shrimp for about one minute on each side, until there is no pink showing. Set aside.
• Cook pasta according to directions. (Save about 1/4 cup of pasta water).
• Add drained pasta to pan with shrimp. Add enough pesto to cover pasta. You can add a little pasta water back in, as the starchy water helps to thicken. Add a tablespoon at a time.
• Cut tomatoes in half lengthwise. Add as garnish to pasta dish.

Notes

Regarding cheese, sometimes I just use pecorino romano. You can also use parmesan cheese. I  skip the cheese when using seafood.

Shrimp: We use a pound of shrimp, half pound pasta for 4 small servings. You can double this for larger servings or to serve six.

If you are adding this to pasta, reserve some pasta water (3 tablespoons or so) a little at a time to extend the pasta.

You may also heat the pesto on very very low and add in heavy cream for a creamy pesto pasta.

The post Macadamia Nut Pesto, Shrimp, Edamame Pasta appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

Authentic Caprese salad is made with tomatoes, olive oil, basil and fresh mozzarella.

If you order a caprese salad in a restaurant, you are most likely to get a sliced tomatoes, sliced mozzarella, olive oil, basil, and balsamic vinegar. Sometimes restaurants will chop the tomatoes. Sometimes they add onions (which I would never do) and sometimes they make it with pesto instead of chopped basil.

My thoughts about caprese salad are very strong. I’ve had the good fortune to eat a caprese salad and a caprese sandwich in Tuscany. It was simply tomatoes, dried basil, sliced buffalo mozzarella, salt, and olive oil.

This salad in Tuscany added olives and clearly made the cheese the star!

Although this seems like a simple recipe, it’s easy to get it wrong.

However, it’s also easy to get it right if you follow these tips.

Make your salad right before you are ready to serve. You have more leeway with these cherry or grape tomato salads. If you are slicing your tomatoes, wait until just prior to serving.

Use Fresh Mozzarella – Not the rubbery yellow kind. Buffalo mozzarella is exceptional, if you can find it.  Most fresh mozzarella will be made with cow’s milk. Take your cheese out twenty minutes in advance of making salad.

Use Fresh Tomatoes – If you can’t find fresh summer tomatoes, use grape or cherry tomatoes as I did here. Do not refrigerate tomatoes.

Use Extra Virgin Olive Oil – Don’t skimp on having a good olive oil in your pantry.

Use Sea Salt – Salt wakes up fresh mozzarella cheese and tomatoes.

Use Fresh Basil  – Garnish with basil right before serving or it will turn brown.

Use Fresh Pesto or Pistou for Potlucks and Parties – Pesto will keep better over a long term and it will be easier to refrigerate.

I don’t like vinegar on tomatoes and cheese. I don’t like onions anywhere near this. I do want only the freshest basil, but I lean strongly on making a pesto, especially if you are carting a caprese salad to a party or potluck. I only use fresh mozzarella as the yellow store bought mozzarella has no flavor.

Caprese salad made with wild wonders, cherry and grape tomatoes is perfect as a party dish when you’re out of time or you don’t know how to cook.

Try Making a Caprese Sub for Parties

This caprese sandwich is made with a fried pepperoni.

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Please follow me on Instagram where you can get sneak peaks of the recipes on video stories.

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Party Caprese Salad Recipes, Perfect for Outdoor Picnics, or Potlucks

Caprese Salad with Tomatoes, Basil or Pesto, Fresh Mozzarella, great for appetizer, parties, potlucks.

Course Salad

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 1 pint Fresh Mozzarella Cheese Balls
• 1 pint Tomatoes use a variety of cherry, grape or wild wonders
• Pistou Recipe Below enough to cover tomatoes and cheese
• 
  
• Pistou
• 2 handfulls basil
• ⅓ cup olive oil
• 1 clove garlic

Instructions

• If using large tomatoes, cut in thick slices, serve immediately.
• If using wild wonders, cherry or grape, no need to slice.
• Set cheese out about 30 minutes in advance to enjoy the flavor and texture.
• Toss with cheese, olive oil, basil, salt, pepper.
• If making pistou, blend garlic basil and olive oil together. Use this for salad.

The post Party Caprese Salad Recipes, Perfect for Outdoor Picnics, or Potlucks appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

Most people, including me, are very tenuous about making leg of lamb.  While lamb chops seem easy, most people don’t know how to cook a roast lamb and it seems daunting.

There are many questions,  because a leg of lamb is not something we make every day. It’s expensive, so we want to make sure we get it right.

What is a leg of lamb?

It’s the upper part of the back haunch of the animal and is naturally tender.

What do I do with the netting? How do I tie the leg of lamb?

I purchased boneless leg of lamb, which came in a netting. Sometimes that netting is oven safe, but I still choose to remove it,  so I could rub it with my herb mixture. I retied with butcher’s twine.

The fell was already removed, as well as the shank.  The fell is a word you may not be familiar with. It’s the papery, thin, membrane that covers the leg of lamb. Most of the time it’s removed before you purchase it.

Do I roast or braise the leg of lamb?

The general opinion on lamb is to roast, not braise and ruin it. However, I recently braised lamb shanks in red wine, and then there’s my most popular post, the Hunger games lamb stew with dried plums.

In these cases, braising made sense, but for an elegant sliced leg of lamb, roasting is the way to go.

How to Cook Roast Lamb: How do I Marinate?

I decided to opt out of marinating, which is not necessary, as leg of lamb is tender and juicy, with lots of fat. If you do marinate, don’t over do it as just a few hours is all you need.

How to Cook Roast Lamb: How do I season lamb?

Lamb simply loves rosemary, thyme and garlic. It also loves dijon mustard. You can make rub from herbs and garlic or add in a little dijon mustard and olive oil. Just make sure you use plenty, finely chopped (fresh herbs are best), and cover the whole thing. Before applying this rub, you will want to stab the lamb all over at 1/2 inch inserts, which will allow all the flavors to penetrate.

Do I go low and slow or use a high temperature?

I ended up going with a 400 degree F. oven and roasting at about 20 minutes a pound for a medium rare.

What sauce or gravy do I serve with Leg of Lamb?

I sliced it and served it with my secret weapon that turns everyone into a lamb lover, mint pistachio pesto.

The funny thing about this is I am not a mint fan in general. However, when you take fresh mint, parsley, garlic, lemon zest,  and pistachios and smoosh them with olive oil, you have something irresistible.

This is my basil pistachio pesto. I simply left out the cheese (not right for lamb) and replaced basil with mint. You can decide how chunky you want the pesto. I left it fairly chunky, but on a different day I may choose to do it smoother.

I served this to a friend during lunch. She loved it and went back for more. It was tender, and flavorful (not gamey), and she thought the mint pistachio pesto was spot on.

I could think of serving the pesto on several of my other lamb dishes, such as the parmesan crusted lamb chops and my rack of lamb. 

If you do cook roast lamb, serve it with this roasted dijon potatoes or these lemon dijon roasted purple potatoes. Or if you’re low-carbing it, please make this mashed cauliflower, which will marry so well with all those textures and flavors.

What do you do with the leg of lamb leftovers?

If you have left over lamb, you might want to make a shredded lamb shepherd’s pie. I will come back with a recipe for that.

Some years ago I made a lamb feta party bites.  You could do that with leftovers but do top it with mint pistachio pesto. That would be outstanding!

More Lamb Recipes from Spinach Tiger

• Rack of Lamb
• Braised Lamb Shanks
• Parmesan Lamb Chops
• Lollypop Lamb Chops
• Lamb Bites
• Lamb Skewers
• Lamb Shanks with Juniper Berries

More Pesto Recipes from Spinach Tiger

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How to Cook Roast Lamb with a Mint Pistachio Pesto

Delicious and Easy Roasted Leg of Lamb with Mint PIstachio Pesto for an elegant dinner.

Course Entree

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 40 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

Boneless Leg of Lamb

• 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary you may use more if fresh
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
• lemon zest from half lemon
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• freshly grounded black pepper

Mint Pistachio Pesto

• 1/3 cup roasted salted shelled pistachios
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• lemon zest from half lemon
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 cup big handful flat Italian parsley
• 1 cup big handful fresh mint (see notes)
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Have ready a roasting pan with a rack.
• If you purchase a leg of lamb wrapped in a net, it is already likely properly trimmed. Sometimes the net is oven safe. I always remove and retie.
• If the leg of lamb still has the fell, a papery membrane, it must be trimmed off.
• Retie lamb with butcher’s twine.
• Using a pairing knife, make sharp inserts about 1/2 long, all over the lamb. I will usually do this through the netting, but it doesn’t matter.
• Make lamb rub. Chop garlic, rosemary together. Mix with dijon mustard, lemon zest, olive oil.
• Season lamb with salt and pepper all over.
• Put the rub all over the lamb.
• Put lamb onto rack on roasting pan. I
• If you don’t have a rack, just place on shallow baking pan, such as a large cast iron pan.
• Roast till internal temperature reaches 130 degrees F. for medium rare in center. The pieces on the outside will be medium.
• It will be approximately 20 minutes per pound.
• Check the lamb at 60 minutes. If its getting too brown, loosely place a piece of foil over lamb.
• Make Mint PIstachio Pesto
• Chop garlic.
• Put all ingredients for pesto into blender or food processor, until you get the texture you want.
• If you want it chunky, a food processor works better. If you want it smoother, use a Vitamix type blender and add a tablespoon of softened butter at the end.

Notes

If you don’t have a lot of fresh mint from a garden, buy one package and offset with more parsley if need be.

The post How to Cook Roast Lamb and Mint Pistachio Pesto appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

This is what being a food blogger is all about. I have over 1,000 recipes here at Spinach Tiger and yet new recipes come into my head all the time. Why haven’t I made Greek meatballs before?

It seems that ground meat has no end to being rediscovered. 

Can I talk to you a minute? Making these meatballs got me thinking about human nature.

Do you know how complex and interesting you are? I’m going out on a limb to say you want new experiences too, but you may not know it. You forget just how alive and fascinating you really are.

If you’re like me, you sit in the same chair at the dining room table, but that doesn’t mean we need to eat the same thing every Wednesday night. It’s in our nature to have adventure, to change things up and expand our world.  I like to do it with food!

While I keep a minimalist kitchen as far as ingredients, leaning towards Mediterranean. Olive oil, lemon, and fresh herbs fly into so many of my dishes, but even with these, there’s probably an infinite number of dishes for me to discover.  I don’t really have to step out of my wheel house to keep growing, and neither do you.

Why not make a decision that the “you” that wakes up tomorrow may be even more exciting and interesting than the “you” that woke up today. God is never finished with us, so why should we be.  I wrote more on us as “creators” in this post, and it gives us all something to think about.

I usually only make Italian meatballs, but why stop there? Greek Feta Lamb Meatballs will add a global flair to the table. Now I’m thinking Swedish meatballs, Korean meatballs.

If any of you have any interesting meatball recipes, please send them my way. 

Greek Feta Lamb meatballs with the pesto is simply an amazing bite of food.

Even meatballs can be more than meatballs. You can make them appetizer size and wow your guests or stuff them into pita bread for hearty sandwiches for the big eaters.

You can keep them keto friendly, which was my intention, because there’s lots of fat packed into them and no grains.

I love a good feta cheese as long as it’s all sheep’s cheese. I especially love it when it comes in a liquid brine. The salt and brine offer a very umami type experience. I made an amazing and unique dandelion pasta salad with feta here or feta olive salad here.

Feta and Pistachio Perfect for Lamb Meatballs

When the feta warms inside the meatballs, the flavors escalate.

The pistachio mint pesto simply adds another layer of flavor, texture and color and these are amazing!

Three More Ways You can Serve Greek Feta Lamb Meatballs

• You could make these cocktail size for a party. As soon as they come out of the oven, stick a skewer, top with pesto and serve. Your guests will applaud you.
• You could serve these between pita bread with arugula.
• Serve on top of a Greek Salad with more feta, tomatoes, Greek olives and instead of pesto, use this lemony vinaigrette. 

Greek Feta Meatballs with Lamb and Beef or All Beef

The first version was made with all beef, which was at least 15% fat. The fat is important for moisture. If you’re using a lean ground beef, soak with a little milk to tenderize the meat. Make sure you don’t pack your meatballs tight, which makes them tough.

The second version was made with half lamb and half ground grass fed beef. Grass fed is very lean and ground lamb is often tightly packed, so do add in some olive oil to bring some extra moisture, because these do not have any bread crumbs.

As far as flavoring, you can add some fresh rosemary or fresh or dried oregano, plus some red chili flakes.

The key to a good meatball is tenderness. I bake mine in the oven at 400 for 15-20 minutes.

Mint Pistachio Pesto

Last summer I made Pistachio Pesto which inspired me to make a mint version. This would also be amazing with any lamb dish, but try it on vegetables too. In this recipe I added a little butter (because I had made it too lemony). In the version for my leg of lamb, I kept it chunkier, less creamy.

NOTE: You can substitute blanched almonds for pistachios.

.

There are never ending ways to make meatballs, and I’m hoping to bring you several new meatball recipes. Before today, my most interesting meatballs were the prosciutto meatballs with a savory blueberry pear shallot compote. 

This was the picture I put on Instagram, and many are waiting for the recipe. Don’t let them be the first to see our cooking. Please follow us at SpinachTiger.

More Meatball Recipes from Spinach Tiger

• Turkey Meatballs
• Veal Meatballs with Ricotta
• Homemade Italian Meatballs, Grain Free, Paleo
• Keto Meatball Sliders
• Ground Chicken Meatballs
• Meatball Soup (Italian Wedding Soup)
• Spaghetti and Meatballs
• Garden Tomato Sauce with Fresh Basil

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Feta Stuffed Meatballs with Pistachio Pesto (Keto, Paleo, Friendly)

Lamb and Beef combine with feta to make Greek meatballs with mint pistachio pesto

Course Entree

Cuisine Greek

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 18

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 pound ground lamb You can use all beef
• large handful parsley chopped
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 4 ounces crumbled feta not pre-made crumbles
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano or 1-2 tablespoons fresh oregano or fresh rosemary
• 2 cloves of garlic minced
• 1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• Mint Pistachio Pesto Recipe foundHere

Instructions

• If using beef and lamb, mix together, carefully.
• Add remaining ingredients and mix together.
• As far as herbs, if you don’t have oregano, use rosemary.
• Do a “taste test” by frying two tablespoons or so of meat mixture. Adjust seasonings as needed.
• Form meatballs. I use an scooper to make a uniform meatball.
• Bake at 400 degrees for approximately 20 minutes. Check at 15 minutes. Don’t over bake.
• While baking, prepare pistachio pesto.
• Serve immediately.
• Can be refrigerated for three days.
• Can be frozen.
• This makes 18 medium sized meatballs.

Notes

The pistachio pesto recipe is flexible. I added in extra butter in this recipe for the meatballs. You can make it chunky or smoother. That will be up to you. All are good.

Substitute pistachios with blanched almonds.

Feta: Do not use pre-made crumbles which have no flavor.

The post Greek Feta Meatballs with Pistachio Mint Pesto (Keto, Paleo, Friendly) appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

I’m picking this Italian chicken pasta recipe out of my old bag of tricks. I used to make this every month and often for dinner parties, but  bowtie pasta with creamy pesto went by the way side for more adventurous dishes.

After tasting this most delicious pistachio pesto we made the other night, this dish is back in rotation, as the best Italian comfort food right next to spaghetti and meatballs.

Easy meal season starts right now, because people feel they need to cook once school starts. Families begin to nest which means no more running down to the taco stand for dinner. Everyone wants to capture the aromas from the kitchen that only a home-cooked meal that create.

Here’s where Spinach Tiger wants to help you. Make a big batch of this pistachio pesto. Freeze it according to directions. This pesto is going to pull you through a few rough nights where homework is going wrong, and your family needs to feel special, well loved, well fed.

I forgot how good it is. I forgot that white meat chicken (which can be so so boring) is a bit exciting when it’s drenched in a creamy pesto. I forgot the lure of pasta on cool days when it’s punched up with a nutty pistachio pesto that is jumping with flavor elevated by a bit of garlic, and good Italian cheese.

You can do the prep work in advance to make this an easy school night meal.

If you want to work in advance, cut up some chicken breasts into large cubes, and keep frozen. These will easily defrost while you’re getting the table set. You can also use sauteèd chicken breasts like the ones made here.

Boil some pasta. While the pasta is boiling, gently cook the cubed chicken on very low until it is just done, but still tender. Take out your frozen pesto cups and place in a sauce pan or microwave. In mere minutes or seconds, you have your sauce.

Creamy Pesto Can Be Healthy with this tip

Instead of using heavy cream,   use some freshly grated cheese and pasta broth to add heft to the pesto pasta sauce. It all comes together and it tastes so good, so Italian, so soul pleasing.

Add Your Own Veggies

You don’t need to spend a lot of time on this easy dinner, but it will feel like you did.  Add in any veggies you want. Broccoli, peas, and green beans all work well tucked into this dish. Just keep the bites small.

I hear from you all the time that you want to cook, but it has to be easy. I’ve created a new category, “easy dinners” so you easily locate our most approachable big fat healthy dinners and enjoy a good food with your family.

 Easy Dinners from Spinach Tiger  

 More Pasta Dishes from Spinach Tiger

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Italian Chicken Pasta Recipe with Creamy Pesto

Bow Tie Pasta, Breast of Chicken, Pesto come together for an easy dinner.

Course Entree

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon butter coconut oil or olive oil
• 1 pound boneless chicken breasts cut into large bite sized cubes
• 1 to 2 cups pistachio pesto sauce recipe here
• 1 pound bow tie pasta
• 1/2 cup pasta water after pasta has boiled
• 1/4 cup pecorino romano cheese or parmigianna reggiano
• splash heavy cream see notes

Instructions

• Cut chicken into large cubes. Add salt.
• Sautè chicken cubes in butter, coconut oil or olive oil on the lowest heat possible. Keep a lid on for the first ten minutes. Turn as needed. The low heat will keep the chicken tender. Remove from pan to a dish.
• Boil pasta according to directions, less 2 minutes. Reserve 1 cup pasta water.
• Place 1 cup pesto into frying pan that will be large enough to hold the pasta. Add cooked, drained pasta with the pasta water. Finish cooking the pasta in this pan on low heat. The pasta broth should add a bit of creaminess to the sauce. You can also add in a splash of heavy cream as a thickener.
• Add in chicken, grated cheese. Toss and serve immediately.

Notes

You can choose to add up to 1/4 cup heavy cream. This will dilute the flavor of the pesto a little bit. The addition an extra 1/4 cup pecorino can add flavor back in.

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The post Italian Chicken Pasta Recipe with Creamy Pistachio Pesto appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

Take a good look. See how nice and bright green this pesto is. The taste is even better, thanks to pistachios.

I’ve been making pesto almost as long as I’ve been cooking pasta, long before it really became popular. I made it for this traditional Genovese pasta dish.  Then I noticed the whole world discovered pesto for everything and everything became pesto.

Traditionally it’s always been made with pine nuts, which are actually the edible seed of a pine tree, but then something happened to pine nuts!

No one knows for sure why, but a syndrome called pine mouth has been reported and packages now have warnings that “Some individuals may experience a reaction to eating pine nuts, characterized by a lingering bitter or metallic taste.” You can read more about that pine nut syndrome here.

For a while, I substituted with walnuts. Recently I  discovered that pistachios yield a result much closer to the pine nut version, as they equal the flavor and texture of pine nuts (with no fear of losing my good taste buds).

The pistachios provide enough heft and flavor to make my pesto turn out exactly the way I like it. It also retained its bright green color, as often walnuts will muddy the color.

How to Make Italian Pistachio Pesto

I know that pesto can be made mortar pestle style, but I’m going to show you my easy way. I use a small food processor that I can control. I just purchased this immersion blender that came with a mini-food processor attachment and it worked like a charm, because I like it with a bit of body. You can put it all in a Vitamix type blender, but I like a food processor for pesto.

The store bought pestos are usually all wrong in so many ways, and I urger you to avoid them. They are often weak substitutes with overpowering garlic and a metallic taste. It only takes a few minutes to make your own and it’s so worth it.

Good Ingredients are Key in Making Pesto

Garlic: How Much? Many recipes require way too much garlic and it becomes a garlic pesto. You may say you love garlic, but try my way once with only two small cloves and see how bright and fresh your pesto will taste.

Butter: Yes, a few tablespoons of butter lends to a very creamy texture. You can leave it out, but once you add butter, you will experience a whole new kind of pesto.

Cheese: I often use a combination of freshly grated parmigiano reggiano and Pecorino Romano. It’s all good and a matter of preference. The Romano cheese (a sheep’s cheese) is saltier and in this recipe that’s all I used. But feel free to mix it up.

Basil: If you wash the basil, dry it well in a salad spinner or with paper towels. If you’re short on basil, add in fresh Italian parsley.

Storing Pesto: You need to refrigerate pesto. Take it out 30 minutes before using. You can also see notes for freezing.

How to Freeze Pistachio Pesto

Once I have my pesto completed, I always freeze some, especially since I grow basil and have it in abundance this time of year.

I’ve seen people freeze pesto in ice cubes, but I like to use these silicone cups, especially these from OXO because they have side handles, which makes them easy to cart when full of liquid. After they are completely frozen, I place them in a food saver bag or ziplock.

Just take out and defrost. Presto, pesto, you have a fresh batch.

How would you eat Pistachio Pesto?

While pasta is an obvious choice, this is low carb by itself. Simply add to veggies, steak, fish, zoodles, soup.

If you’re splurging, try pistachio pesto on smashed potatoes? It’s amazing. It will also perk up polenta and be an amazing appetizer on tuscan toast points.

This traditional genovese dish is one of the ways we love to eat pesto with pasta.

I love this zoodle shrimp dish with tomatoes and spoonfuls of pesto.

You can always add pesto to pizza or to a caprese salad. 

Pesto is awesome in sandwiches like this big fat party sandwich.

More Pesto Recipes from Spinach Tiger

More Pistachio Recipes from Spinach Tiger

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Why You Need to Make Pistachio Pesto

Fresh basil, pistachios, lemon juice make a delightful summer pesto, which can be frozen and enjoyed in the winter.

Course Italian Sauce

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 15 minutes minutes

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 2 cups tightly packed fresh picked basil leaves
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoon roasted salted pistachios
• 2 cloves of garlic finely chopped before processing
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• dash of salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• For completion by hand
• 1/2 cup tablespoon freshly grated pecorino romano cheese
• 2 tablespoon butter

Instructions

• Place all ingredients except cheese into a food processor. You must chop the garlic first, which makes it much better to process and doesn't become a juice.
• I don't like to use a food processor for this because I can pulse it and keep some texture, which I prefer.
• Add the cheese by hand.

Notes

Regarding cheese, sometimes I just use pecorino romano. You can also use parmesan cheese.

If you are adding this to pasta, reserve some pasta water (3 tablespoons or so) a little at a time to extend the pasta.

You may also heat the pesto on very very low and add in heavy cream for a creamy pesto pasta.

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The post Pistachio Pesto Recipe and Why You Might Want to Avoid Pine Nuts appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

Italian Potato Salad is a dish that showed up at every picnic and summer holiday when I was growing up. It’s not complicated. It’s not dangerous in the heat. It’s tasty and almost everyone loves it. Back then, my family didn’t make pesto. They simply used olive oil, oregano, vinegar, salt and pepper. That’s not a bad dish, but this is just a little more special.

This will take the place of that mushy potato salad that curdles and worries us at outdoor gatherings.

I made Italian Potato Salad with Pesto for our Easter picnic at the farm, with no worries about spoiling or mayonnaise. We took the leftovers home and we ate on those potatoes for the next few days. They can be fried for omelettes, frittatas etc. They can be heated and served warm.

Italian Potato Salad with Authentic Pesto Recipe is a Pot Luck Party Recipe

This is the dish that is okay to sit out for a long time. It’s served at room temperature, and I guarantee will go fast!

The beauty of this dish is that you do not need to peel the potatoes. It’s a simple dish that adds a lot of bulk, color, texture to a table with very little effort.

Pesto is so easy to make. The store bought pestos don’t have the same fresh taste and are too often too garlicky and not in a good way. Pine nuts are expensive, so I don’t use them as much, but I do miss them.  Walnuts are a great substitute, and you don’t need too many of them.

Truthfully, in this recipe, you can skip the nuts if you want. Flavor is what you’re looking for and the Pecorino Romano will do its job. I go back and forth about what cheese to use for pesto. Pecorino Romano or Parmigiana Reggiano?

As long as you have an authentic cheese from Italy, use either or a combination. We prefer to use both, but lean towards the pecorino if just using one. It’s the saltiness we love so much. (Costco sells both Pecorino and Parmigiano Romano in nice big pieces at a reasonable price. Never buy pre-grated cheese. There are too many reasons to go into, but the flavor, quality and quantity will be diminished.

Marcella Hazan changed my outlook about pesto when she taught me two things from her legendary book, The Essentials of Classical Italian Cooking.  (affiliate)

She adds  butter at the end, which  makes the pesto creamy, and she mixes the cheese in by hand, even if using a food processor. Those two rules for an authentic  pesto have stayed with me for years.

Also, it’s important to reserve some starchy water (it can be pasta water or potato water) to add into the pesto, so its not so oil heavy.

This is a room temperature Italian potato salad.

The biggest mistake you could make would be to refrigerate the potatoes, because that will change their texture and pesto is not good cold.  Make these the day of your event and leave them out. Once the day is over and you must refrigerate, then I recommend eating them heated. You can even heat and cool off a little.

I like to serve this with a side of green beans made the same way, as they just go together so well. If it’s tomato season, add some fresh tomatoes for an Italian trio.

You might also like this pesto recipe made with all the herbs from my garden.

More Italian Food Recipes from Spinach Tiger

More Pesto Recipes from Spinach Tiger

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Italian Potato Salad with Pesto

Boiled Potatoes with a Pesto, served at room temperature makes the most delicious Italian Potato Salad.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 1 pound red potatoes
• 1 cup Basil Pesto
• !Basil Pesto Recipe
• 2 cups tightly packed fresh picked basil leaves
• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2-4 tablespoons starchy water from boiled potatoes
• 3 tablespoon pine nuts or roasted salted pistachios
• 2 cloves of garlic finely chopped before processing
• 1 teaspoon salt
• For completion by hand
• ½ cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
• 2 tablespoon freshly grated pecorino romano cheese
• 3 tablespoon butter optional

Instructions

• Scrub the potatoes clean. Remove any parts of skin that you would not want to eat.
• Cut in large bite sized pieces. If small, cut in half only.
• Put in large pot with cold water 2 inches above potatoes.
• Bring to boil. Turn down to a simmer, until the potatoes are fork tender.
• Make Pesto
• Wash basil and pat with paper towels. Process garlic, pine nuts (or walnuts), basil, olive oil for processor until you have a creamy consistency. At this point add in some hot starchy water, a tablespoon at a time to thin down just a bit.
• Add in the rest of the ingredients by hand, first adding in all cheese until it is really smooth. Then add butter in at the end. You can choose to skip the butter if you want to.
• Toss potatoes with pesto while they are still warm.

The post Authentic Pesto Recipe for Italian Potato Salad and More appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

Spaghetti and Pesto, Green Beans and  Potatoes is one of my favorite pesto pasta dishes.

Pesto comes from GENOVA or Genoa, located in the region of Liguria. Pesto is a combination of basil, pine nuts, olive oil, garlic, parmigiano-reggiano and pecorino cheeses.

Pesto has a deep meaning for us as we make it for every special occasion. It’s become the go to “party” favorite, taking us through every type of celebration, including baby showers, women’s luncheons, anniversaries, birthdays and recently July 4th.

I first stumbled upon and prepared pesto pasta with green beans and potatoes long ago first discovering it in Bon Appetite. The combination of potatoes and pasta intrigued me then and it does now. It almost seems out of sorts to combine two starches, but once you experience the taste and textures, you’ll come to see how ingenious this dish is.

Marcella adds softened butter to the end of her pesto, and although I was reluctant to use butter at first, now I can’t think of leaving it out. It brings a creaminess that makes the sauce much more elegant than rustic.

I whirled the pesto to a very smooth consistency, but you can decide the texture you desire. There are many recipes and rules for pesto, but I think the texture and consistency needs to compliment the dish.   Some Italian cooks are insistent that you cannot use a food processor as it will burn the basil, and they stick with the original method of pestle and mortar. Marcella offers both recipes in her book.

Spaghetti with Pesto, Potatoes and Green Beans is a Genovese Dish

Pesto in the the true Italian tradition is light on the garlic, relying mainly on the taste of the basil, and the bite of the very good cheeses. If you want to cook the most delicious Italian cuisine, you must learn to edit the garlic in such a way that it would surely be missed if absent, yet it’s not the dominant flavor.

This is great for a make ahead dinner for guests. Prepare the potatoes, green beans, and pesto ahead of time. Then once guests have arrived, you can cook the pasta, and assemble, serving immediately. In the dish below, however, which was taken to a July 4th celebration, it was made ahead and served at room temperature.

Try this dish as is, and then the next time, feel free to add in your own choices of veggies…broccoli, peas, asparagus are all good choices. We usually have it with seafood (shrimps and scallops) but today, I am preparing it just a bit differently (with a bit of butter) as Marcella suggests and you can find that recipe here.

Pesto can be frozen
If you can grow your own basil as we do, you’ll see it will return far more basil than you can eat in one season. Leave out the cheese and freeze the pesto in ice cube trays. Once frozen, put in plastic bags and thaw as needed.

Kids Love Pesto, Flavorful Foods and Helping in the Kitchen
This is a winner with toddlers. Kids love flavor, texture and feeding themselves adult-sized bites. Make it with a large size penne that they can eat with their hands or stab easily with a fork. It’s also a great way to introduce them to savory, flavorful food that just happens to be nutritious. As a variation for kids, you can add in handfuls of fresh spinach to mix in with the basil.

Toddlers can even help with this recipe by stirring in the cheeses and butter at the end of the recipe. They can go to the garden and help you pick basil, wash it and pat it dry. The more you involve them in the process, the more they will enjoy good food and the dinner table.

I’ve made so many of Marcella Hazan’s recipes and you read about my experience cooking through her book here. I’ve also made a seven-herb walnut pesto which you can find here that would also be great on the pasta of your choice, or on toast points.

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Cooking Italy - Spaghetti and Pesto, Green Beans, Potatoes

A classic Pesto sauce with pasta adapted from Essentials of Classical Italian Cooking, Marcella Hazan

Servings 6

Ingredients

• Ingredients for Pesto
• For the Processor
• 2 cups tightly packed fresh picked basil leaves
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoon pine nuts toasted
• 2 cloves of garlic finely chopped before processing
• Salt
• For completion by hand
• 1/2 cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
• 2 tablespoon freshly grated romano cheese
• 3 tablespoon butter
• Ingredients for Complete Dish
• Pesto Sauce
• 1 1/2 pounds pasta
• 3 small potatoes
• 3 tablespoons pasta water

Instructions

• Wash basil and pat with paper towels. Process ingredients for processor until you have a creamy consistency. Add in the rest of the ingredients by hand, first adding in all cheese until it is really smooth. Then add butter in at the end.
• For assembly
• /2 pounds pasta (I used one pound in spaghetti and 1 1/2 with fusilli)
• small new potatoes, boiled in skin, skin removed afterward, thinly sliced
• /2 pound young green beans, ends snapped, cut half (depending on size)
• Save a few Tablespoons of pasta water to add into pesto
• Toss pesto with cooked pasta, beans, and potatoes. Add in pasta water as needed. Serve immediately. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

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