Tuesday Night Special

We have a tradition in my house. It's called the Tuesday Night Special and it consists of two things: pesto flatbread pizza and grilled artichokes. We eat this every single Tuesday night. At the end of the meal, I wish I had more. It could honestly be the one thing I don't ever get tired of.

The star ingredient, really the reason why it's a hit for Tuesday, is the pesto. It isn't your standard basil pesto with loads of fat from pine nuts and olive oil. It's actually an ENTIRE bag of spinach.

Put 1 bag of spinach, 1 garlic clove, a squirt of half a lemon, 1 tsp salt, some grinds of pepper, 1 tsp of red chili flakes (I like it spicy), and 1/4 cup of toasted pine nuts into a food processor. You can put the pine nuts in raw but you should really toast them in a dry pan first. It only takes 30 seconds.

Since Spinach has so much water in it naturally, there seems to be enough moisture for it by itself. Along with the lemon, you really don't need olive oil. Depending on the moisure level, I'll add about 1 TBSP of olive oil in a fine drizzle as the processor spins.

FLATBREAD PIZZAS:

1. Toast 1 whole weat pita at 425 for 10 minutes until it's crispy and can stand on its own. Otherwise it will get soggy with the sauce on it.
2. Spread the pesto all over, add cheese, sliced tomatoes, whatever. Salt and pepper the top lightly.
3. Cook in the oven at 425 for another 10 minutes.
4. Top off with Micro Greens, slice into quarters, and drizzle black truffle oil.

ARTICHOKES:

1. Slice off the stem, cut off the top half of the chokes where the leaves are pointed, quarter it, clean out the choke with a knife, and boil/steam for 50 minutes.
2. Grill on an indoor or outdoor grill, salt, pepper, and squeeze a full lemon across the inside of the artichokes periodically.