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Recipe courtesy of Michael Chiarello

Arugula Pesto

  • Level: Easy
  • Yield: 2 cups
  • Nutritional Analysis
    Per Serving
    Serving Size
    1 of 16 servings
    Calories
    150
    Total Fat
    16
    Saturated Fat
    3
    Carbohydrates
    1
    Dietary Fiber
    0
    Sugar
    0
    Protein
    2
    Cholesterol
    3
    Sodium
    66
  • Total: 11 min
  • Prep: 10 min
  • Cook: 1 min
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Ingredients

4 cups packed fresh arugula

1 tablespoon minced garlic

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 cup pure olive oil

2 tablespoon pine nuts, toasted, plus 1 tablespoon

1/8 teaspoon vitamin C (optional)

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Directions

  1. Prepare an ice water bath in a large bowl, and bring a large pot of water to a boil. Put the arugula in a large sieve and plunge it into the boiling water. Immediately immerse all the arugula and stir so that it blanches evenly. Blanch for about 15 seconds. Remove, shake off the excess water, then plunge the arugula into the ice water bath and stir again so it cools as fast as possible. Drain well.
  2. Squeeze the water out of the arugula with your hands until very dry. Roughly chop the arugula and put in a blender. Add the garlic, salt and pepper to taste, olive oil, 2 tablespoons of the pine nuts, and the vitamin C, if using. Blend for at least 30 seconds. In this way the green of the arugula will thoroughly color the oil. Add the cheese and pulse to combine. The pesto will keep several days in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator.
  3. Pull out before dinner to get to room temperature. Before serving, add the remaining 1 tablespoon toasted pinenuts.
Show: Easy Entertaining with Michael Chiarello
Episode: Polenta Party

Categories:

Italian Pesto Recipes Nut Recipes Arugula Pureeing Recipes Gluten Free Low-Carb Low Sodium

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20 Reviews
Add Your Review

ymadub

I made this as directed (though without the Vitamin C).  I thought it was great.  I think it's a good thing to blanch the arugula if, like me, you have a lot of it from fairly old plants.  I think the taste would otherwise be overpowering - I personally couldn't eat a salad made entirely from the arugula I used in this pesto.  I have raw Vitamin C tabs at home, but didn't use any because we ate the pesto immediately.  I think he advises you to put the Vitamin C in there so the pesto doesn't turn brown and you maintain the arugula's vibrant green. Very slight changes to recipe: 1) I used some green garlic to mellow out the garlic flavor a bit (since I had it on hand).  I probably wouldn't put that much regular garlic into my pesto.  2) I stirred the olive oil in at the end with the cheese.  I've found that you can make some olive oil bitter by agitating it in a food processor. 

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