We had a nasty storm the other day, and lightening hit the side of our house. No damage, thankfully. The only casualty was our Internet. Everything else in the house worked except for the Internet, so I thought that maybe I was going a little nutty. Turns out I was not, the cable man confirmed that we were in fact hit. I was sitting in the office and all of the sudden I saw a huge flash. It scared the crap out of me. You know how they say lightening only strikes once? Not this house. This was the 3rd time!
I made this Arugula and Walnut Pesto Pasta shortly before we left Kansas. I love to make pesto. For starters, it is so easy to do. You just put stuff in the blender and let it go. Secondly, it makes simple pasta into an elegant meal. So much better than cracking open a bottle of tomato sauce. You can also use it as a sauce for grilled fish or chicken. Ever since I got back from the Dole trip, I have been using a ton of arugula. In salads, on top of shrimp, in sandwiches. When I have a little extra, I make a quick pesto and toss it with some warm pasta. A easy and healthy weeknight meal.
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3 cups arugula
1 cup flat leaf parsley
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup toasted walnuts
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
grated nutmeg
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese
pasta
Heat the olive oil in a small pan over medium heat. Add the garlic cloves. Heat on low for about 10 minutes.
Add the arugula and parsley to a blender or food processor.
Add the walnuts, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and garlic cloves.
Pour olive oil into the blender. Process until smooth.
Add the Parmesan cheese. Mix for a second. Taste it to make sure there is enough salt.
Boil a pot of water, and salt it well. Cook pasta according to package directions. Toss hot pasta with pesto and garnish with more Parmesan and some walnuts.
Arugula and Walnut Pesto Pasta
Arugula and Walnut Pesto Pasta - Pesto doesn't just have to be made with basil. Arugula and walnuts make a vitamin and mineral dense pesto.
Ingredients
- 3 cups arugula
- 1 cup flat leaf parsley
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/4 cup toasted walnuts
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- grated nutmeg
- 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese
- pasta
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a small pan over medium heat. Add the garlic clove. Heat on low for about 10 minutes.
- Add the arugula and parsley to a blender or food processor.
- Add the walnuts, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and garlic cloves.
- Pour olive oil into the blender. Process until smooth.
- Add the Parmesan cheese. Mix for a second. Taste it to make sure there is enough salt.
- Boil a pot of water, and salt it well. Cook pasta according to package directions. Toss hot pasta with pesto and garnish with more Parmesan and some walnuts.
Nutrition Information:
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 0Total Fat: 0g
This Post Has 29 Comments
Love the ingredients in the pesto! Looks like the perfect summer dish. Glad to hear everyone and the house is okay.
thanks Alison! Super easy dinner that everyone ate. Small miracles.
Looove how easy this is! And it looks super delicious!
Super easy. It takes longer to cook the pasta than anything else.
Hi! I love that funky looking pasta! What is it called/where can you get it? 🙂
You know what, I don’t know. It was in the fancy pasta section of the grocery store.
The pasta is so pretty! This looks amazing, thanks for sharing.
You are very welcome Riley!
This looks so tasty, and I love how you styled it so prettily for the shoot!
thank you Jessica. You would be surprised how I throw things on the table and call it “styled”.
My parents have a walnut tree in their front yard — every year growing up we had MONTHS and MONTHS worth of walnuts. So my mom always used walnuts in her pesto! I never even knew until adulthood that pesto traditionally uses pine nuts.. I didn’t know any other way!
Lucky girl! I love walnuts. I make glazed walnuts all the time for salad.
Pesto made with walnuts – more nutrition and that smoky, nutty flavor. So good 🙂
I didn’t even think about that part!
This really looks amazing! I have been itching to try making pesto lately! I dont have a food processor or a blender so I cant wait to get either one to make some! I am really dying to try it. This has me salivating and wanting to make pesto even more 🙂
You don’t? You sound like me, I didn’t have a microwave for over a year.
Just wonderful food. I usually make pesto with basil and pine nuts and like you say it can transform a pasta dish. So easy to make and and scores high on taste.
I’ll need to try making it with Arugula and walnuts. A nice variation.
Thank you Jacqueline! Parsley is also really good in a pesto.
I am sorry to hear about the lightening incident. I am glad that everyone that was in the house is OK. As for the Pasta, it looks super-delicious 🙂
Thank you June!
Your pasta looks so pleasing! I love arugula and have never made pesto out of it. I have a ton of walnuts on hand and would enjoy making a big batch of the pesto, using it for pasta and pizza and freezing the leftovers! 🙂
If you have non-arugula lovers, they would never know that this pesto is made from it. It really does not have the bite that arugula can sometimes have.
The pasta looks amazing! I will have to prepare it sometime. Thanks a lot for sharing.
You are welcome Nikki!
Mmmm looks delicious I am a huge fan of pesto pasta!
Thank you! Me too.
I was just wondering how many people you served with the amounts listed? Thanks!
I served my family of 5. 2 adults, 3 kids.
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