Spinach Miso Pesto (and Grilled Pizza!)
You know what you should do this weekend?
You should have people over for dinner.
Maybe it’s the friend from the pool. You know, the who always tells you, “You’re doing a good job, Mama.” when you have to coax a small child off of your leg and into the water. Even after three and a half weeks of lessons.
Maybe it’s one of your husband’s friends. You know, the one who loans him embarrassingly large Star Wars coffee table books that you have to hide when you invite your neighbor over for a cup of tea.
(Pssst. It’s under the red chair. Don’t tell.)
Maybe it’s your friend who is an incredible cook. You know, the one who comes bearing her own pesto.
Her own dairy-free, nut-free, beg-her-to-leave-the-leftovers-so-you-can-eat-it-straight-from-the-fridge-the-next-day-for-breakfast pesto.
Yeah, definitely invite her.
The best kind of dinners are with those people you don’t have to impress.
Serve your pizza on a well-loved, well-seasoned cookie sheet and they don’t bat an eye.
Tell them your pizza dough is from the store and they say, “What a time-saver!”
Leave the bathroom door open (if you are under the age of seven), “accidentally” burp and weigh them down with leftovers and your favorite books on the way out the door.
Still want to come over for dinner?
Great. We eat at 6.
Spinach Miso Pesto
Adapted from my friend Deb’s recipe
Makes approximately 2 cups
- 3 c. fresh basil
- 2 c. spinach
- 1/2 c. raw sunflower seeds
- 1 1/2 T. miso*
- 2-3 cloves of garlic
- 2 T. extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4-1/2 c. water
- 1 T. lemon juice
Combine all ingredients in a food processor or high-speed blender and blend until smooth. Add water as needed to reach desired consistency.
*Ingredient note: miso is a traditional Japanese seasoning produced by fermenting rice, barley and/or soybeans. I use a barley miso. You can find it at most natural food stores and/or Asian markets.
For the grilled pizza:
- I recommend using Trader Joe’s wheat, regular or herb dough (or try this recipe or the one from our book!).
- If using the Trader Joe’s dough, remove the dough from the package and place it on a floured surface to rest for 20 minutes before grilling.
- Lightly oil and then heat the grill to high.
- I like to divide the dough in two and then pat and roll each portion into an 8-10 inch pizza.
- Place dough directly on the grill, close lid and cook for 2-3 minutes, until grill marks are visible.
- Remove dough from grill and place uncooked side down on a lightly oiled baking sheet.
- Top each pizza with desired sauce and toppings. We like to do red sauce, mozzarella and pineapple for the kiddos and pesto, Daiya, sautéed squash, peppers, mushrooms and Kalamata olives for the adults.
- Return pizza to the grill, uncooked side down. Lower heat slightly, close lid and continue grilling for an additional 4-5 minutes until the underside is thoroughly cooked and the toppings are melted.
- Hint: You can pre-grill one side of your dough 1-2 hours before your guests arrive and simply top the pizzas when they get here.
- Use leftover pesto on salads or a spoon, you know, for breakfast.
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The winner of the Baby Bullet is Carrie, (the one who still likes to eat Goldfish without any preference as to flavor). Email me your mailing address to peasandthankyou@hotmail.com and I will get your Baby Bullet asap.
Thanks to all who entered!
Yum! I love making different pestos. I was already planning a pizza night on Friday and I will definitely be incorporating these ideas.
Hope you love it! Sunday nights have turned into our “pizza nights.” Every decent week needs at least one, don’t ya think?
Quick! You only have till Wednesday to “deal with” the atrocity under the red chair (if ya know what I mean)
Guess what’s for dinner…
Wow–why didn’t I know miso came in other forms other than soy. I can’t have soy because of my breastfeeding baby’s intolerances, but I’ve missed the deep flavor miso adds to so many things I like to make. I’m going to have to make a trip to the health food store to seek out some rice miso. And I’ll definitely give your pesto a try once I get some….looks great!
Just make sure to check the label, because my barley miso does have soy listed, just not as the primary ingredient. And definitely rely on your pediatrician’s advice, but my understanding is that fermented soy (as in miso and tempeh) is tolerated differently than regular soy or soy protein isolate. Hope it works for you!
Hi Mamma Pea! I make similar dip, only use frozen PEAS instead of spinach
Well, isn’t that genius!
soooooo basically you’re saying i should invite you over for dinner…DONE! wanna come over around, say, 6 MST?
I’m there.
You’re making me sad that I don’t have a grill (or, you know…any outside living space in which to keep one). This grilled pizza looks awesome (I’ve been drooling over your instagram pics of it for a while now).
Spinach is one of my favorite things to use in pesto! I don’t always have copious amounts of basil at hand…but I do almost always have spinach hanging around! Yum.
I just got a grill this year! But I also have a grill pan ($19.99 at IKEA) which might also work?
God bless IKEA.
We would be sleeping on our floor and putting our feet on banana boxes otherwise.
Stop it. Our grill is in our living room because our deck is taking one eternity to finish. I may just fire it up and see what happens.
I am so jealous. Do you realize you can make s’mores in your living room?! You are welcome.
Thank you so much for making a nut-free pesto! I always get sad when i see great-looking pesto recipes because I can’t have pine nuts, walnuts, almonds, etc. Luckily, sunflower seeds are on the “won’t kill me” list. I can’t wait to try this!
You will love it. It is the best non-pesto pesto ever!
My goodness we need a grill.
Love this pesto recipe. Never thought to use sunflower seeds. Thanks Deb.
Seriously. If I had a dollar for every “Thanks Deb,” I’d have lotsa dollars.
Love this spinach pesto and the yellow squash and pineapple (my fave on pizza!). The vibrancy of these colors is just gorgeous! Nature can be so beautiful…especially with all that nature on top of little pizzas!
And you sure know about the beauty of nature right now!
God bless pesto, in all its glorious forms, and God bless the people who share it with you, because it means everyone can bask in the shared basil breath we all get afterwards. Thanks for this version…always awesome to have a body-system friendly version of my favies!
Amen.
I’m on my way! (That WAS an invitation, right?) And, I will totally bring a dish. IF my homemade dish’s container happens to look suspiciously like a plastic grocery store container, that is only because I like to recycle…gotta go green!
I seem to be on a kick today for “stumbling across” (attracting into my life!) recipes that require the exact ingredients I need to clean out of the fridge before I go out of town on Thursday. Thus, dinner tonight was your pesto atop my first attempt at raw vegan zucchini pasta (I’m very much a carnivore…) Not too shabby <3
That’s a great idea on how to use it! Glad you liked it.
Does that book look a little something like this?
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Wars:_Complete_Locations
I bet Pea Daddy has been enjoying it… when he can find it.
For the record, it’s my 6-yr-old son’s book.
I was just hoping to find a way to use miso recently. I love this idea! Thanks!
Ohhhh yes please! I’d be in the first plane out:) I’m making that divine sounding pesto tomorrow. Done and dusted! Thanks Deb, thanks MP;)
Hope you love it, Marion!
oh Mama, i will be over at 6.
love you, email coming soon!
i want pizza for breakfast.
XOXO
Oh goodie! Much to talk about with you too. <3
Mmm pesto is such a lifesaver (and timesaver!) Last week I was prepping to go away for the weekend and was trying to eat anything in the fridge that had seen better days. I had an enormous bag of basil that I think I used about 2 leaves from, so I turned the rest into pesto and have been enjoying it smothered on everything this week! I’ve never thought to put miso in it though… will have to try that next! I think you’re going to have lots of dinner guests … can we have dough balls for dessert?
Sure thing, chicken wing.
What a terrific (and healthy!) twist on pesto- can’t wait to try it! And really there is nothing quite like grilled pizza- yum!
Love grilled pizzas! These look fantastic!
That looks sooooo good!!
I’m quite sure the pesto wouldn’t make to the pizza, I’d be eating it straight up immediately! Loving the grill idea, it’s been long time since we’ve fired it up since we have a Cuisinart grill inside. We’re far too lazy to heat up the charcoal grill outside these days
I bet that grill is awesome! And you can have grilled pizza year round!
Nice! I’ve always made my pesto with walnuts, and I’ve heard of using pine nuts (however kind of pricey), but sunflower seeds are a great idea! Does the miso really alter the taste of the pesto?
I can’t explain it, but between the basil, sunflower seeds, garlic, miso and lemon juice, it tastes just like real pesto!
I have never thought to add miso to pesto – what a great addition!! Pesto is a favorite of mine!!
Trader Joe’s pizza crust is the BEST!!!! Um… and I would really like to come over for pizza and guaranteed I won’t be bringing anything homemade with me, just two obnoxious toddlers and a frantic mama.
That pesto looks amazing!! Great recipe… can’t wait to dive into – I mean tastefully dollop – the delicious green mixture
Love that it’s nut free and dairy free. My type of healthy food!
Oh my gosh, yum yum yum! I’ve been on a real miso dressings kick recently, but pesto? Brilliant! So excited to make this.
Made this pesto for dinner (I mean, to have WITH dinner!) and my three kids inhaled it with a spoon, just like you said. They spread it on zucchini pancakes, but just ended up globbing in on their plates and eating it alone. Thank you!
That’s so great, Lori! Thank you for the feedback!
So yeah, I just made this the other night, and it’s awesome. I’m linking to the recipe on my blog so other people can enjoy too : ) Thanks again for posting this!
I’m so glad, Jess. I agree, it’s a keeper!
Made this last night and it was amazing! Used it for pasta with roasted veggies and sun dried tomatoes! I subbed pistachios for seeds and it was fantastic. Thanks again for another winner!
Makes me miss summer! I’m so glad you enjoyed it.