I’m not Irish but I’m happy to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with The Wearing of the Green. . .on potatoes. . .
. . .with Spinach Pesto~ and a little fun with Spinach 4-Leaf Clovers~
I’m not lucky when it comes to finding 4-Leaf Clovers, but I did have some luck & fun with baby spinach leaves, making my own clovers with a 4 -Leaf Clover Punch from Martha Stewart Crafts I found at Michaels.
I found this fun idea on Pinterest~ here~ using basil.
Since basil is dismal this time of year at the grocery store and it’s too early for fresh basil, I decided to use baby spinach for a pesto and celebrate with a little wearing of the green on our potatoes for St. Paddy’s Day.
There are lots of recipe variations for Spinach Pesto~ using a combination of spinach & parsley, spinach & basil~ and substituting walnuts for pine nuts. Use what you like, or use a jarred basil pesto to mix with your mashed potatoes.
I used spinach only, following a recipe from Giada~ reducing the amount of lemon juice/zest called for in the recipe by half, since I was adding the pesto to mashed potatoes.
You want to use fresh baby spinach which is finer and easier to fit through the punch for your 4-Leaf Clover garnish.
Or throw caution to the wind~ skip the calorie counting and ignore the fat grams~ and pipe your pesto mashed potatoes into Dutch Ann frozen tart shells.
Bake filled tart shells about 20 minutes and garnish with a spinach 4-Leaf Clover.
You can see The Wearing of the Green at the table here~
Wishing you a Happy St. Patrick’s Day~
Omg, what a cute idea to use a punch.. and it worked! goodness. I will have to try that. Thanks so much for always inspiring us with beauty and entertaining us with your charm!
Wow! Aren’t you the creative one! That’s a really cute idea with the four leaf clover cut outs! Those tarts look so good!
How fun is this??? What a GREAT idea, Mary! I NEED THAT PUNCH!!! I hope our JoAnn’s has one…I’m going there today to check, as company is coming over tomorrow & I want to make these.
Thank you SOOOO much for the inspiration, Honey! You are the BEST & I feel very lucky to have found you & your delightful blog. I have learned so much from you in only 2 short years.
Mega Grateful Hugs,
Rett
Oh my Shamrocks!..I must use this recipe for my granddaughter’s St. Patrick’s Day birthday…Fantastic…Now, are you able to get the tarts at the Grocery store?..say Harris Teeter? Yes, I am half Irish..and the other half Japanese..what a combo!!..Someone asked if I put Sake in my coffee..Something I will have to try! LOL :)
I hope you will consider linking this beautiful post to my Tablescape Party on Friday…
Thanks everyone :) Shirley~ My Harris Teeter sells the Dutch Ann shells~ they’re next to the puff pastry and Athens mini shells.
If this isn’t one of the cutest posts/ideas EVER….Mary, I couldn’t imagine how you’d cut your 4-leaf clovers…what a cute, clever idea! And the potato tarts are darling! Thanks for a fun post! ~Zuni
Cutest cut outs ever!
This will probably be one of the most-copied ideas this St Patrick’s Day – thanks!
Everyone has beat me to it above, but this is the cutest idea I’ve ever seen! I love the tarts…I like to make colcannon – mashed potatoes, cabbage, leeks or scallions, butter, salt and pepper – I can see the spinach pesto as a sub for the cabbage!
Erin go braugh!!!
Oh, meant to tell you…I dreamed last night I was doing a tablescape and wanted to use my blue and white carp plates (which I couldn’t find no matter where I looked) on a several shades of blue and white busy, busy floral tablecloth…could not find navy napkins, but I had pulled out all of my cobalt glass out…I had the biggest mess!…and out of the blue, I discovered I had a cupboard FULL of beautiful accessories that I never knew I had…
You’re playing with my subconscious mind, Mary!
Mary you are SO clever. I would have never thought of using a punch. I so agree with all the other commenters. Hey you ROCK girlfriend! Love love love your great post. Love ’em all. I too have learned so much from you in the short time I’ve been blogging.
Mary, this is the cleverest idea. I don’t have a shamrock punch, but will get myself one of these the next time I’m in Michaels. Pesto mashed potatoes sound delicious! ~ sarah
PS Mary I am feeling SO stupid right now. I did not realize you were you. Thankyou for making a comment on my last post and others. I admire you so much and appreciate your comments and opinions. I never gave you credit where credit is due. I always thought it was another Mary. Sorry I’m such a dunce at times. I’m still so new at this blogging and am learning more each day. I really want to have a quality blog like yours and hopefully one of these days I will achieve it. But I know I still have alot to learn about blogging.
Big Hugs,’
Nann
Hi there Mary! Isn’t Pinterest just the BEST?? I love it! And I really love this idea of cutting shamrocks out of basil!! I must try this as Pesto is a favorite! Thank you for being such a great inspiration to us all!! Hugs to your girls!!
I love your 4 leaf clovers! How talented are you! I’m being a holdout for Pinterest. I know I would really LOVE it, but I already spend so much time on the computer, afraid to try something new I know I would love.
Mary, this is a wonderful idea using the punch to make baby spinach shamrocks. The potatoes look delicious. I’l bet after your post there will be a run on the shamrock punches…Martha will probably be wondering what’s going on, and try to hire you to be on her creative staff…She should be so lucky. :)
This is cute, cute, cute! So simple to do, but what an impact!!! I can see adding these shamrocks to a corned beef and cabbage dinner, too.
Marilyn (in Dallas)
OK, this is the cleverest thing I’ve ever seen! Who’d have ever thought of doing this with a punch. You are amazing.
Ooooo… I’ll have a tart please! They looks so pretty, love the clovers:@)
What a neat idea!! Wish I had seen this earlier so I could have decorated the Colcannon I made for church this evening. And if you need a recipe for Colcannon, I have one on my blog today.
Great posting you did!
Karen
Ladybug Creek
As usual, you inspired me! Happy “green” eating!
The cutest veggie shamrocks ever! I have a million different punches, and I never tried them on spinach leaves or basil ;o) Great idea!
I love the lucky clover you’ve made! fantastic post!
Beautiful! Thanks for sharing! Love the spinach cutouts! And the potatoes look delish in green!
I love green and potatoes!
Mary, I just get giddy when I come to your blog! I know that I am in for a treat filled with beauty and creativity! I love every single thing in your post today. How creative and easy… spinach leaf shamrocks! Your food looks marvelous. I am a huge fan of pesto and it in mashed potatoes is guilding the lily!!!! Your photography is spectacular as always. You stage things masterfully! I learn something (many things) new every time I come to your gorgeous blog!!!
Thanks for inspiring me!
xo Yvonne
Hi Mary,
Very creative! You have taken St. Patrick’s Day to a new level. I would if my hubsand would eat green potatoes?
Wonderful idea. Your recipe looks fabulous! Found you on Foodie Friday:)
Oh what an adorable idea! Your recipe looks yummy, thanks for sharing. Just dropped from Foodie Friday too. Have a happy weekend.
FABBY
I love those spinach shamrocks! So cute! Beautiful post, Mary.
The plum trees I shot are at a bank in town. I saw them from a distance and knew I had to get pictures. I can’t wait to see your plum blossoms.
What a fabulous, creative idea! I love it, and such a ‘unique’ idea. You’re a clever woman. x
Thanks for joining ON THE MENU MONDAY… I love this recipe!
Yvonne
Million thanks for sharing this idea. I never have a clue that we can do this. Not in my wildest thoughts §:-)
This is really a “must” try recipe. I guess I will do this ASAP when I am home recovering for influenza.
Have a blessed week,
/CC
Love, love , love this idea. Punching, what an awesome idea.
– The Tablescaper
You are BRILLIANT! I mean, what an amazingly clever idea. I have gobs of these punches that I am now going to view in a whole new light. I’m wondering how tough it would be to punch the gondolier from a basil leaf to use to top an Italian dish? The Eiffel Tower to use to top a quiche? The mind reels. Well, Mary, you’re going to keep me busy with this new trick, and perhaps slowly drive me insane.
I found this on Pinterest, can’t believe I missed this post but it right in time for me!!! I am going to try this for St. Patty’s. Once again, you delight me. XO, Pinky
I don’t know much about Irish food, but I would have to say potatoes! Your spinach pesto mashed potatoes look delicious and the spinach leaf clover is so clever! Wait a minute, does Irish whiskey count as a food? :)
Have a question, but I don’t see how I can contact you. Please, contact me. Thanks.
Very great recipes….Thanks for a valuable share
So cute, so creative, and I can’t wait to try this out. Yum!