Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Arugula and Spinach Pesto

I forgot to photograph the contents of my box yesterday. It is pretty much the same as last week, except lots more of it. We also got a couple turnips, bok choy, and scapes. Scapes are the tops to the garlic, and when cut off apparently have a great flavor. My food box friend recommended to me a scape pesto after collecting a couple week's worth of them. We shall see what comes of them. I broke down and went grocery shopping Monday night since our fridge was bear after our mini vacation, buying staples that likely would be used. After picking my box up, I sat down and made a list of the vegetables we got as well as grains and protiens in my pantry/fridge. Then, I set to work. Easily enough, I sat down with cookbooks and didn't have to crack them open at all. I planned on making: Greek Pizza (already bought the dough- perhaps bought tomatoes and a cucumber for this) Fried Chickpeas and Chorizo (using spinach- we got an entire pound!) Hearty Salad Potato and Turnip Gratin Fried Quinoa (using the bok choy and scallions) Arugula and Spinach Pesto (recipe to follow) We shall see how this goes! I free-styled the pesto, trying my best to write down and measure what I was doing. Question: Are you looking for exact recipes to follow or more of just recipes for ideas? Perhaps my first question should be, are people even reading this? But, I am more of a "guidelines" kind of cook than a recipe (hence my frequent baking disasters). So I would like to know what people are looking for, what they like in a recipe. Much appreciated. Arugula and Spinach Pesto roughly 4 c arugula roughly 1 c spinach 1/2 c parmesan cheese 5-7 T evoo (depending on consistency you prefer) 1/4 c pine nuts (walnuts would do well here i think as well) 3 cloves roasted garlic salt and pepper to taste pasta (1/2 to 1 pound) The rule I deem most important that I gleaned from watching Top Chef: always taste your food while you are cooking. If you don't, you may just serve dog food. Put a pot of salted water on to boil. Cook pasta according to directions. In a food processor or blender, place ingredients except for 1/2 of the arugula. I used a blender as my food processor melted in the dish washer but I am sure a food processor would do much better for this as there is not much liquid. As the mixture blends down, add additional arugula and any additional oil. It is best to stream in the oil as you blend if you can. Puree until creamy. Taste. Add salt if needed. Add pesto to the pasta when pasta is cooked and drained. I sauted up some vegan italian sausage as well to add as I have been hankering it ever since the Phillies game and people were downing sausages. Voila! Dinner in about 15 minutes. And a great way to use up a boat load of spinach/arugula. See tomorrow for the rest of the spinach being used!

2 comments:

  1. I'm reading! These recipes look amazing...can't wait till you try them out on me :) Maybe next weekend! Woot!

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  2. I'm reading and planning on cooking these too! As for the recipes it is nice to have some measurements for guidelines at least relative portions to each other, though I tend to change things around when I cook too.

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