Nick Stellino's Ligurian Sauce

Ingredients

2-3 thick slices of Day Old Bread, crusts removed (about 2 cups)

½ cup Cream

1 box (10 ounces) frozen chopped Spinach or 1 large bunch of fresh Spinach, blanched and chopped

½ cup Pine Nuts

¼ cup Sun-dried Tomato Halves (6-7 halves) packed in olive oil, drained and chopped

4 large Garlic cloves, minced

¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan Cheese

¼ teaspoon Salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground Black Pepper

1 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Salsa Ligure

Makes about 2 cups of sauce

Soak the bread in the cream until it is completely soft, about 1 hour. Squeeze the bread dry. Drain the spinach of excess moisture by pressing the leaves between two plates of simply squeezing by hand.

In a food processor, pulse together the spinach, pine nuts, sun dried tomatoes and garlic until evenly blended. Add the softened bread, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper and puree to a thick paste. Turn the machine on and pour the extra virgin olive oil in a thin stream into the spinach and bread mixture to make a thick, emulsified sauce similar to pesto.

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