Looking for a light and delicious lunch or dinner, this dill pesto pasta with spinach and sun-dried tomatoes only takes 30 minutes and it is so flavourful. A recipe you will want to make often.
If you are looking for an easy, quick and flavourful pasta dish, this is it!! If you are a dill lover like I am, you will love this dish!
This recipe was modified from the original by adding a dill to this pesto. I have made other pesto’s but wanted to give this one a try and I loved the flavour of the fresh and citrus dill offers, and what better way of using up some of the bunch of dill sitting in my refrigerator then to make some pesto with it. I added some spinach and a little bit of basil to balance the flavours. As I mentioned this was an easy recipe, and while the pasta is cooking you can make the pesto and start sautéing the shallots and garlic.
WHAT MAKES THIS DISH SO DELCIOUS
First and foremost the pesto is what makes this dish stand out with it’s rich, fresh and bold flavour. Spinach is such a great green to add to any dish for it’s nutritional content, colour and flavour. A great combination of flavours with the sun-dried tomatoes to give it a sweet tomato flavour that makes this dish oh so yummy!
Pesto is one of the easiest things to make to take your dish to the next level. This pesto, add dill, basil, spinach, walnuts, garlic and lemon juice to the food processor. Pulse several times, scraping down the sides, then slowly add the olive oil until it starts to bind and emulsify to avoid the olive oil from separating until you reach a creamy texture, then season with salt and pepper.
Pasta with this recipe only required a few ingredients – shallots, garlic, spinach, sun-dried tomato, salt and pepper with a half cup of pasta water. Add pesto and parmesan cheese at the end. Feel free to be generous with the pesto if you so desire.
So if you are asking what makes this dish so delicious, it’s the combination of ingredients and the freshness of the herbs, dill and basil. Garlic is added to the pesto and the skillet for a garlicky rich flavour and the sun-dried tomatoes balances the flavours with it’s sweetness, and lastly using a good quality extra virgin olive oil makes all the difference in the outcome of a delicious pasta dish! At the end, you have a pasta dish that your family or company will be asking you to make it again and again!
INGREDIENTS
DILL PESTO
- fresh dill
- fresh basil
- spinach
- walnuts
- garlic
- lemon juice
- salt
- extra virgin olive oil
PASTA
- pasta: I used penne for this recipe and other options are bow tie pasta, rigatoni, spaghetti
- extra virgin olive oil
- shallot
- garlic
- spinach
- sun-dried tomatoes
- salt and pepper
- Parmesan cheese
HOW TO MAKE THIS EASY AND DELICIOUS RECIPE
Pesto: In a food processor, add dill, basil, spinach, walnuts, garlic, lemon juice and salt and pulse a few times until the dill, basil, spinach, walnuts, and garlic, are chopped. Then begin slowly streaming the olive oil through the spout until it starts to bind and the texture should become creamy and all the ingredients are well blended. Make sure you scrap down the sides. You will notice the olive oil separating and that’s to be expected.
Meanwhile, heat skillet to medium temperature, add olive oil. Once oil is heated through, add shallots and saute for about 1-2 minutes, then add garlic and saute for about 30 seconds, long enough until it becomes fragrant. Stir in spinach and sun-dried tomatoes, and saute for 2 minutes. Add pasta water, salt and pepper to the skillet, and stir in pesto.
Once pasta is added to the skillet, then evenly toss and combine all ingredients together. Stir in Parmesan cheese while the heat is still on so the cheese will melt slightly to bind the pesto sauce and pasta water.
FAQ
Can I replace walnuts for pine nuts in the pesto recipe? Of course, you can absolutely use pine nuts instead of walnuts. The reason I used walnuts is mainly because I am sensitive to other nuts and walnuts are the only ones I can eat and beside I love the taste.
What other pasta can I substitute for penne for this dish? Try to stick with a noodle with ziti or rigatoni both are great to absorb the pesto sauce. Sometimes I will use a spaghetti pasta if I don’t have the others in my pantry and it works well too.
Finally step is serving this fresh and delicious pasta dish by garnishing with the extra Parmesan cheese and freshly chopped basil! It can’t get any better then this! Enjoy!!
LOVE PESTO...HERE ARE SOME RECIPES YOU WILL REALLY ENJOY
Dill Pesto Pasta with Spinach and Sun-dried Tomato
Equipment
- medium sauce pot
- Food Processor
- skillet
Ingredients
Pesto: Yields about 1/2 cup
- 1 cup fresh dill, loosely packed
- 1/4 cup fresh basil
- 1 cup fresh spinach
- 1/4 cup walnuts
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Pasta:
- 8 oz penne pasta
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 shallot, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups organic spinach, washed and dried
- 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
- 1/2 cup pasta water
- 1/2 tsp Himalayan salt
- dash of pepper
- 4 tbsp homemade dill pesto (recipe to follow)
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, extra for garnishing
Instructions
- Fill a medium size pot with water, once it comes to a boil, add about 1/2 teaspoon salt and pasta. Follow instructions on package and cook until al denta.
- In a food processor, add dill, basil, spinach, walnuts, garlic, lemon juice and salt and pulse a few times until the dill, basil, spinach, walnuts, and garlic, are chopped. Then begin slowly streaming the olive oil through the spout until it starts to bind and the texture should become creamy and all the ingredients are well blended. Make sure you scrap down the sides. You will notice the olive oil separating and that's to be expected.
- Meanwhile, heat skillet to medium temperature, add olive oil. Once oil is heated through, add shallots and saute for about 1-2 minutes, then add garlic and saute for about 30 seconds, long enough until it becomes fragrant. Stir in spinach and sun-dried tomatoes, and saute for 2 minutes. Add pasta water, salt and pepper to the skillet, and stir in pesto.
- Add pasta to skillet and evenly toss and combine all ingredients together. Stir in Parmesan cheese.
- Garnish with Parmesan cheese and chopped basil!
