Whole-Wheat Pasta with Pumpkin-Seed and Spinach Pesto

This weekend I finally went through the stacks of recipes I've pulled from magazines and found homes for each of them in my binders. This was a good one I was glad to rediscover. I was fairly distracted while I was prepping dinner, so below is how I made it. Three of us loved it; since my five-year-old still has an aversion to green things, I didn't take it too personally when she only ate one bite.

*12 oz. dried whole-wheat rotini pasta

*2/3 c. fulled pumpkin seeds, toasted

*1/3 c. fresh flat-leaf parsley

*1 TBSP. coarsely chopped fresh chives

*1/4 c. extra-virgin olive oil

*1 garlic clove

*1 tsp. coarse salt

*1 tsp. finely grated lemon zest

*1 tsp. lemon juice

*2 c. baby spinach, packed

*3/4 c. part-skim ricotta cheese, divided

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add pasta, and cook until al dente. Drain, reserving 1 c. cooking water.

Meanwhile, combine toasted pumpkkin seeds, parsley, chives, oil, garlic salt, lemon juice and zest, and spinach in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to combine and add about 1/2 c. ricotta; pulse again. Return pasta and pesto to pan and toss to combine, thinning with reserved pasta water as needed. Serve with a scoop of remaining ricotta on top and a sprinkle of Parmesan.