Spinach Pesto Pasta with Shrimp

I love finding creative ways to eat those dark green leafy vegetables that are so nutritious, but sometimes not my favorite. Using them in a pasta sauce is a tasty way to enjoy veggies like spinach and kale.  For this recipe, I pulled out my food processor....
I forgot how amazing that thing is! 

I decided to make a spinach-based pesto since I had quite a bit of spinach that needed eating. While spinach pesto often uses walnuts or pine nuts, I didn't have any on hand, but it tasted great without them! Also, I should mention that this isn't your typical "pesto." As you'll see below, I added a few other things... (I take after my mom who is always "doctoring up" her dishes... and they taste incredible because of it!) Feel free to play around with amounts and ingredients. (I added more kale and parsley as I went along.) The recipe is below!

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 cup sliced mushrooms

1 Tablespoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon lemon pepper

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

4 cups fresh spinach

3-4 kale leaves, de-stemmed, torn into 2 inch pieces

1/2 cup fresh parsley

1/2 Tablespoon dried basil

3 dollops of sour cream (I used light sour cream)

2 Tablespoons cream cheese

1/4 cup fresh parmesan cheese (can use jar parmesan)

Salt to taste

Cooked shrimp - as many or as few as you desire

1 package thin spaghetti pasta, cooked

Steps:

1. Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat
2. Saute onion, mushrooms, garlic, lemon pepper, and crushed red pepper until onion is tender.
3. Place entire mixture into food processor and pulse until coarsely pureed. 
4. Add spinach, 2 cups at a time and pulse until blended.
5. Add kale, parsley, and dried basil. Pulse until pureed.
6. Add sour cream, cream cheese, and parmesan cheese. Pulse until blended. Add salt to taste.
7. Toss sauce with freshly cooked pasta and shrimp. Pour rest of mixture into jars. Refrigerate for later use.
8. Garnish with fresh parsley and enjoy!

 Here is the recipe as a JPEG to print. Enjoy!

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