Creamy Basil Pesto with Spinach

Pesto has a long history in Liguria, on Italy's northwest coast, where cooks pounded basil with garlic, salty hard cheese and pine nuts in a marble mortar. The traditional version is oily and rich. This one takes a different road. Cottage cheese does the job that cream or a heap of extra oil would normally do, so the sauce comes out thick, pale green and spoonable with only a little olive oil.

Basil is the star, but spinach is doing quiet work here too. A cup of baby spinach adds color and a gentle, mineral green note that keeps the basil from tasting sharp. Spinach is mostly water, so it breaks down fast in the processor. If you find the sauce tastes a little flat, a squeeze of lemon or an extra grating of Parmigiano will wake it up without any fuss.

A few things I have learned from making this more than once. Scrape the bowl down halfway through blending, because cottage cheese likes to cling to the sides. Let the cheese sit at room temperature for ten minutes before it goes in, which keeps the sauce from looking grainy. And if it thickens too much once it sits, a spoonful of skim milk loosens it right up. Leftovers keep in a covered jar in the fridge for a few days. The color dims a little, so give it a stir before using and it will look fresh again.

This is a sauce that wants to be tossed with something warm. Stir it through hot pasta with a splash of the cooking water, or spread it under a layer of sliced tomatoes on toasted bread. It also makes a good dip for raw vegetables.

If you are building a full plate around it, a few of our other recipes sit nicely alongside. The Golden Squash Strands with Fresh Tomato Sauce make a light base for a spoonful of pesto, and the Tuscan Chicken Simmered with Spinach and Basil echoes the same herbs in a skillet dinner. For a lighter vegetable side, try the Baked Portobello Caps with Spinach Artichoke Filling.