I hope you all had a wonderful Valentines Day yesterday! I started my day extra early (4am) so that I could be ready for the KING5 local news crew at 5AM. I shot live segments of my Valentines crafts every hour throughout the morning news- it was so fun, and I was so happy to help people struggling for last minute ideas.

We also went out for a, uh, family dinner. As in- not totally romantic, but we have a real date night planned for this weekend. Any of you in the same boat? I am pretty sure that babysitters are hard to come by on Valentines Day…

After a huge steak dinner last night, I just wanted to eat something lighter tonight. The answer presented itself in this lovely vegetarian pasta dish of spaghetti tossed with walnut pesto. I also have been meaning to make more vegetarian dishes anyways, and this one was created after being inspired by a lovely family of four I know that happens to be vegetarian. (I will just call them the B’s!)

This walnut pesto is incredibly simple while being full of flavor and texture. Plus you get lots of protein and heart healthy fat from the walnuts, so it will be super satisfying.

I am serving it up with a big green salad and can’t wait for dinner tonight!

Pasta with Walnut Pesto, serves 4
1lb spaghetti

Walnut Pesto
1/3 cup olive oil
1 ½ cups walnuts
½ cup freshly grated parmesan
2 cloves of garlic
2 Tbs lemon juice
kosher salt to taste

Finely grated Parmesan and toasted walnut pieces for garnish

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

Add the spaghetti and cook until al dente according to manufacturers directions.

Add pesto ingredients to a food processor and pulse until all the ingredients are combined.

Season with Kosher salt to taste.

Toss the walnut pesto with the pasta until the spaghetti is well coated.

Pile into bowl or a serving platter and garnish with finely grated parmesan and crumbled toasted walnuts.

Enjoy!