This recipe is just for sauce. I got it from 101 Cookbooks, Heidi Swanson's fantastic vegetarian food blog. I adjusted the recipe to taste, but it is essentially unchanged.
Heidi pairs this slightly spicy pesto with wheat berries, which I definitely need to track down and try, but it pairs really well with pasta (of course), cous cous, Israeli cous cous, lentils and even brown rice. You can use it in warm or cold dishes, although it's surprisingly refreshing cold with it's creamy, greeny-lemon flavor. I put it together in a pasta salad with tomatoes and cucumbers and it was delicious, but I'm looking forward to trying it in other dishes. It is very thick, so if you do use it with pasta, reserve some of the cooking water to help thin it a bit to coat your noodles.
And now, without further ado, Summer Pesto of Arugula, Mint and Lemon!
Ingredients:
- 1 med. garlic clove
- 2/3 cups pine nuts or roasted slivered almonds ( I used almonds because I loves them)
- 2 1/2 - 3 cups arugula, loosely packed
- 1/3 cup loosely packed mint
- 1/2 fresh Parmesan cheese, grated
- 2 big pinches of salt
- 1 generous tbs. fresh lemon juice
- 1/3 cup olive oil
Process:
1. Place all of the ingredients, except for the olive oil, into the bowl of a food processor and whirl to a paste - about 1 minute or so.
2. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and whirl again, slowly drizzling in the olive oil. Continue to while until very well incorporated - about another minute.
3. Taste and adjust salt and lemon to taste. Enjoy!
* If you're going to make it ahead of time, just pop it in the fridge in an air tight container. Let it come to room temp before adding it to your starch or legume. This is mostly for your convenience - the stuff is thick, not quite as thick as guacamole, but very thick. It will coat your food more easily at room temp.
*If you want to thin it, slowly add hot water or reserved pasta cooking water until it's at your preferred consistency.
Just so you know, I am starting a new cook book. Based totally on your recipes here. I think it should be called "Foggy Foot Pilferings" or some such... :P
ReplyDeleteI am going to dedicate it to you "Whom I have stolen all these great recipes from" and the proceeds will go to building myself a little shanty in the back of your yard so that I can be the lawn person. Anything left over after that to animals shelters I think... ;)
I love it! In fact, I will build you the shanty so that all of the proceeds can go to art supplies and animal shelters :D
ReplyDeleteSounds like a plan! Let's do it!! :)
ReplyDelete