Lasagna for Lucy- Part 3 JH and Bechamel sauces

Spinach Pesto aka Jeff H
When I go to the vegetable market here in Bacesehire, I buy spinach and lettuce and a number of great vegetables from a particular vendor. It has taken me 6 months to learn the word for half (yarum), thus when I have tried to buy half a kilo of spinach I have ended up with 2 kilos (maybe one but it looks like a lot). So I have been experimenting with the abundance of spinach.
A spinach pesto is perfect to add to a béchamel sauce, which is then used for lasagna, or a pasta sauce. I name it in honor of my math friend, Jeff H. who once dared me to drink a dipping sauce at the “Elephant” restaurant in Beijing which was as nuclear looking as this pesto.

Jeff H
½ kilo spinach (okay a pound or little more will do)
About 5 or 9+ cloves of garlic
Olive oil to smooth things out
Optional- some sort of nut (pine nut, walnut, pecan) about ½ cup

Clean the spinach well and take off the stems. Dry it. Put the spinach, nuts and garlic in a food processor.
Start the processor, if it doesn’t like all of the dry ingredients you might have to add some olive oil to get it moving. Process until you have a nice nuclear looking sauce/paste.

I also like to add some parmesan or hard cheese, grated after all is complete (about half cup)



“Béchamel Sauce”

3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
Salt
2 cups milk- heated in the microwave for about 1.5 minutes

Melt the butter. Add the flour and salt and mix until it starts turning golden. Add the warm milk, continue cooking and stirring with the wire whisk until it gets thick.

Add about 1 cup of the JH pesto to the Béchamel Sauce and mix.