Green Olive Pesto

To be honest, this is not the prettiest looking or the most appetizingly named recipe, but, yum, it sure is tasty. When I came across this, I was intrigued. I don't know why I felt compelled to give it a try. The directions were terrible and I can not stand olives, yet I found myself in the kitchen making it anyway. Weird, I know, but I am glad that I gave it a shot. After some tweaking here and there, it turned out to be a flavorful pesto, that even my toddler gobbles up.

Green Olive Pesto
Ingredients:

• 1lb of spaghetti*
• 5 peeled and sliced garlic cloves
• 1/2 cup pitted green olives
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley
• 1/2 cup fresh basil
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• Up to 1 cup of black olives, pitted and coarsely chopped I usually buy the ones sliced in a can and chop them up to save on time and typically only use about 1/4 cup.
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

*If using a different type of noodle, you should double the recipe to ensure that they will be well coated. I learned this the hard way :-P

Directions:

• Cook spaghetti al dente according to package directions. Reserve 1/2 cup of cooking water and then drain and keep to the side.
• Meanwhile, in a food processor (I use a magic bullet, don't judge me) combine garlic, green olives, parsley, and basil, while adding the olive oil, little by little, until it is well-combined. Poof! There you have it, green olive pesto. Simple, no?
• In the pot used to boil the spaghetti, simmer the pesto for about a minute. 
• To the pesto, add spaghetti, reserved 1/2 cup of water, black olives, and salt, stir.
• Continue stirring until water is cooked off.
• Serve and enjoy! Bruschetta or garlic bread accompanies this nicely.