Pesto Alfredo Pasta

My kids love alfredo sauce and they love pesto. My friend gave me a bunch of fresh basil and so I decided to make pesto with it all and freeze it to use whenever because I can never use the basil fast enough before it goes bad here. So the other day I wanted something quick for dinner and so I had the thought to do alfredo and add a couple of spoonfuls of pesto to it. Man was it tasty. SOme of the best pasta ever!!! The pesto just puts the alfredo over the top. These sauce comes together in about 15 minutes so you can have dinner on the table in a snap with this recipe. Serve this with garlic bread and a lettuce salad!!!

Pesto Alfredo Sauce

For the Pesto:

2 cups fresh basil

1-2 cups fresh spinach leaves

1/2 cup fresh parsley

3 T. fresh garlic

3/4 cup pine nuts or almonds

3/4 cup parmesean cheese

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

enough olive oil to make a smooth sauce (about 1/2 cup)

In a food processor blend all ingredients except olive oil until well blended. Then stream in olive oil and add enough to make a smooth sauce. Sometimes it take a little more than a half a cup sometimes less just depends on the consistency you like.

Note: I add spinach leaves to it because it stretches your buck because basil can be expensive if you don't grow it yourself and for the health factor as well and your kids and you will  never even taste the spinach at all!!!I usually do equal parts spinach to basil 

Note: I  use almonds because that is what I always have on hand and pine nuts are expensive and hard to find where I live. Traditional pesto is made with pine nuts but taste great with almonds or walnuts.

Note: this makes quite a bit of sauce and with pesto a little bit goes a long way. Just put leftovers in a container or ziploc bag and freesze it. It keeps forever and you can take it out and use it whenever you need some!!!

Alfredo Sauce:

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, at room temp.

1 stick of butter

1 -1 1/2 cups milk,any kind

3/4 -1 cup parmesean cheese

1 tsp granulated garlic or garlic powder

In a saucepan combine all ingredients and cook on medium low until all melted and smooth. You may need to add additional milk if it is too thick. We like it thick though but do it to your liking.

For the Pesto alfredo:

Add a few large spoonfuls of pesto to your alfredo sauce and then serve with you favorite pasta. I used 1 lb of pasta and mixed it with the sauce but you can do individual servings if you like. Really this is a versatile recipe!!! Hope you Enjoy!!!