Thursday, March 31, 2011

Arugula Pesto


Aaahh. Arugula.

It comes with many names; rocket, roquette, rugula and rucola, eruca, garden rocket.

It's peppery and a bit spicy.

Perfect for pesto.



I found a 12 ounce tub of organic baby arugula and immediately thought of pesto.

I haven't had arugula in a long time.



Pesto can be any combination of things.

I chose to keep it simple. Olive Oil, Salt, Pepper, and Pecorino Romano cheese.  No nuts.





Arugula is considered a cancer-fighting vegetable and falls into the cruciferous vegetable family.

And it's pretty.

I like pretty.



It's nice to have a helper. 8 year olds can learn to make pesto.

Place the arugula in a food processor.

Add in a good teaspoon of sea salt.


Add 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper.



A couple spoonfuls of grated cheese.

I use Pecorino Romano because my hubby is lactose intolerant. Pecorino is made from Sheep's Milk.

You can use any grated aged cheese you have.


Drizzle in the olive oil till the mixture is nice a moist.




I added a couple of cloves of roasted garlic cause I had them.

You could add garlic powder, or leave it out.



I happened to be making french onion soup at the same time, so I put in a spoon full of onions that had been cooking for an hour and just finished simmering in wine.

That's how I roll. Whatever is on hand.



Pesto goes a long way.

I used a quarter of  it on 2 pounds of pasta for a church dinner.

I refrigerated the rest.



Today, I cooked some brown rice spaghetti for lunch for the boys and topped it with a few tablespoons of the pesto.



I have plans for the remaining pesto to go on Lamb Burgers, some grilled chicken, and maybe some more pasta.

It's super easy to make and gives your meals a nice flavor.

Best of all, in my house, everyone likes it!

Stre-eetch your mind.
And your taste buds.
Try something new.
The Lunch Lady

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