What to do when you have too much Arugula

Betty Casey,

All of our recent rain has been good for my lettuce and arugula. (I can only hope my tomatoes will be as productive this year.)

If your arugula is going crazy, or if you’ve gotten some at one of the farmers’ markets and you want a delicious way to use it, try this pesto.

I love making pesto in the summer. Besides using it on pasta, you can put it on potatoes, pizza and whatever your imagination can come up with.

This pesto is made with walnuts rather than pine nuts. I’ve used walnuts in my basil pesto as well, and I think I prefer them.

This arugula pesto is really good over cheese tortellini. Who knows? If you have kids who won’t eat green stuff, this may be the way to get them to try it. Just tell them it’s green macaroni and cheese. Service it hot, warm or cold.

  

ARUGULA PESTO & CHEESE TORTELLINI​

  • 4-5 cups arugula, torn
  • ¼ cup walnuts
  • ¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed
  • ¼ – ½ cup olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • Cook the cheese tortellini according to package directions.

Put the arugula, garlic and walnuts in a food processor. Process until fairly smooth. With the processor on, slowly add the olive oil in a steady stream. Add the Parmesan cheese and process. Stir in the salt and pepper. The thing about pesto is that you can adjust the ingredients to your taste. You can use pine nuts in this pesto if you prefer. Add more garlic if you like a lot of garlic-y flavor. You can add more cheese or more olive oil if you need to thin it down. It also keeps well in the refrigerator to use later.

Pour over cooked tortellini and enjoy!

Categories: Editor’s Blog

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