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Aug 11, 2014

James' Arugula Pesto


In addition to being an incredibly loving and patient partner and the best father a baby girl could ask for, my husband James is also a terrific cook. I have won the lottery of husbands, I know. One of my favorite dishes he makes is an arugula pesto. It's perfect on crostini, an excellent addition to grilled chicken breast, or tossed with your favorite pasta. I have been wanting to post about this dish for a while, and last night James was kind enough to give me the recipe, which I am now giving to you.


I couldn't resist throwing in a snapshot I took of Lola and James. All I can say is that I am one lucky gal! Anyway, here is the recipe for James' Arugula Pesto:

You will need:

5oz of arugula
4 cloves of garlic unpeeled
1/2 cup of walnuts or pine nuts
one lemon
1/2 cup of parmesan
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp of black pepper
Olive oil

1. Toast the unpeeled garlic in about 2 tbs of olive oil in a small pan until nice and brown and the skins start to peel away or come off.
2. Zest one lemon while garlic is cooking
3. Remove the garlic to a plate to cool but leave olive oil in pan and toast the walnuts for 3 minutes until fragrant. Stir often and don't let burn.
4. Add zest, garlic, walnuts, parmesan and salt and pepper to blender and blend until all is very chopped.
5. Add arugula to blender by the handful and mix while pouring olive oil into the top of the blender. Use as much olive oil as you need to get the texture to your liking. Usually about 1/4-1/3 of a cup. Do this until all of arugula is gone.
6. After ingredients are blended squeeze the juice of 1/2 of lemon to pesto and mix with a spoon.
7. Taste. Add salt and pepper as necessary.
8. Move pesto to a bowl and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Crostinis
1. Pre-heat oven to 400
2. Cut french baguette into slim pieces. Try to make them all the same width so they bake evenly.
3. Lay pieces onto a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle salt and pepper.
4. Bake aprox. 5 minutes or until golden brown. Keep an eye on them because they burn fast. 

Allow the pesto to chill for at least an hour before serving (if you are using as a spread), serve with crostini. Enjoy!


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