Pesto Pasta with Collard Greens and Roasted Summer Squash

This was our quick dinner post-CSA pick-up on Thursday night. Really simple and again only takes about the time it takes to cook the pasta. I often don't have the patience it takes to cook the collard greens long enough to get them to a consistency that my 12 month-old can chew and swallow, but this turned out perfect. Plus, roasted summer squash is amazing!

INGREDIENTS:
1 lb pasta (whole wheat penne is often our choice - easy for little fingers to pick up)
1 or 2 summer squash, washed and cut into bite-size pieces
one bunch (about 5 leaves) collard greens, rinsed and cut into ribbons*
handful walnuts
two garlic cloves
two big handfuls of fresh basil (and/or parsley)
1/2 to 1 teaspoon of salt, to taste
couple twists of fresh ground pepper
1/8 to 1/4 cup of olive oil

Bring large pot of water to a boil, and then add pasta and cook for about 10 minutes. Add greens to boiling water when 8 minutes of cooking time remains. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400. Place squash in a baking dish. Lightly drizzle with oil and salt and pepper to taste. Roast at 400 for about 20 minutes, until tender. Turning once halfway through roasting. Place remaining ingredients (except olive oil) in a food processor. Immediately drizzle oil into processor while it purees. Stop adding oil until you reach your preferred consistency. I like to add about 1/4 cup of the pasta's cooking water to stretch the pesto out a bit and make it smoother for the babes. When all is done cooking, lightly toss pasta and greens with the pesto and roasted squash. Serve immediately. You just may have leftovers for tomorrow's lunch, but don't count on it if you're as hungry as we are at the end of the day. Add an easy salad to the side to slow yourself down from shoveling the pasta in your face.

*I pull the greens off the vein and then pile them on top of each other. I then roll them like a tight burrito and then cut down the roll to create ribbons.