Pasta with arugula pesto recipe

Pasta with arugula pesto and pine nuts. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

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I have to hide the pine nuts when they come into my house. It seems like everyone wants to nibble on these little guys - they're rich and flavorful and as the saying goes, you can't eat just one (handful).

Pine nuts. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

The good folks at Frieda's Specialty Produce sent me a goody package last month that included pine nuts. I nibbled on them for a bit, and then hid them in a succession of places - the pantry, the cabinet, the freezer, and doling them out in dishes like my New Year's greens with pine nuts and raisins.

Pine nuts from Frieda's. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

And then my neighbor gave me some arugula from her CSA box and I knew it was time for Arugula Pesto Pasta, the wintertime version of summer's best dish, Basil Pesto Pasta. Arugula is an acquired taste, I think. It can be peppery and strong, but I love it. I'm just saying that this dish is probably not going to win any fans under the age of 12. As we say in our house, that's just more for me.

Arugula. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Arugula pesto with pine nuts. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Arugula Pesto

4 cups packed arugula leaves, cleaned and stemmed

1/4 cups toasted pine nuts

1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1/4 olive oil
 
Salt and pepper to taste

1 pound pasta such as spaghetti or rotini or farfalle, cooked according to package directions

More pine nuts for garnish


1. In a food processor, blitz the arugula leaves. Add cheese and pine nuts and process again for 15 seconds. With food processor running, add olive oil in a stream through the feeding tube. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper. Serve pesto over cooked pasta and garnish with additional pine nuts. Serve immediately. Store leftover pesto in an airtight container in the refrigerator, although it is best eaten when freshly prepared.

(recipe adapted from Epicurious.com)

Rotini with arugula pesto. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Text and images copyright Lucy Mercer, 2012.

Blueberries: Get 'em while you can

I love fresh Georgia blueberries. Tart and sweet, they're a perfect topping for a granola parfait or for eating out of hand or, for the ambitious, a blueberry pie. Here's a recipe from Chef Ricardo Ullio of Atlanta favorite Sotto Sotto, that teams fresh Georgia blueberries with arugula and almonds. A winning combination, especially for my friends with arugula in their CSA boxes.

 Rucola and Mirtilli Salad, from Sotto Sotto

Serves one

1 cup small-leaf arugula

1/4 cup ripe blueberries

1 tablespoon julienned almonds, toasted

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Shaved Parmigiano Reggiano

In a small bowl, toss together the arugula, blueberries, almonds, lemon juice, olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Combine gently. Serve on a small plate and blanket the salad with the shaved Parmigiano Reggiano.

Aurgula, Part Deux: Not a Pretty Story

After the delicious pasta with arugula, garlic and peas, I was ready for more dishes incorporating my new friend arugula. I am sad to report that the arugula did not cooperate. When I fetched it from the crisper drawer, the remainder was soggy and slimy, compost on the hoof, one might say.

I've been very pleased with my method for keeping CSA greens fresh for at least a week, but arugula must have a shorter lifespan than the lettuces and chard. This is what I do:

1. First, I'm careful to pick up my produce as early in the day as possible and to get it home and refrigerated ASAP. The pick-up station, an office, is air-conditioned, but these tender vegetables need TLC.

2. I pull out my trusty OXO salad spinner and get to work. For the greens, I rinse them in several changes of water and then employ the girls to spin, spin, spin their frustrations out. It's cheaper than therapy (for all of us!).

3. When the greens are sufficiently dry, I get out a Ziploc bag (love the kind with the slide-lock!) and put two sheets of paper towel in the bottom. In go the greens, topped with another double layer of paper towels. Into the crisper drawer. I check these bags every few days and replace the paper towels if they are over-damp.

Before the arugula, I had problems with frisee, which has so many fractal-like nooks and crannies that it was difficult to thoroughly dry. Maybe I'll get another chance to perfect my green preservation technique for frisee. Arugula will just need to be used more quickly.

Arugula: First Installment

I used about half of this week's arugula in a pasta with peas. It was perfect for a summer night's supper, with a baguette to go with, and a vinaigrette-dressed salad beforehand. Watermelon and cantaloupe chunks completed the best of summer menu.

Here's how I made it:

Farfalle with Peas and Arugula

1 pound dried farfalle (bowties) pasta
1 pound arugula, washed and torn into bite size pieces
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves minced garlic
1 cup frozen English peas
Juice of half a lemon
1/4 cup freshly shaved parmesan cheese

1. Put a pot of water on the stove and set to boil. Cook pasta according to package directions.

2. Meanwhile, melt the butter and olive oil and saute the minced garlic just until slightly softened. Add peas and season with salt and pepper. Judicious use of fresh herbs at this time may be helpful, perhaps thyme, definitely parsley. Add the arugula in small portions, cooking each until wilted.

3. When the pasta is ready, use a measuring cup to scoop out one cup of the pasta water. Use this to freshen the sauce, if necessary. Drain the pasta and pour into a lovely, large bowl, the show-offy artisanal one that you use for your prettiest pastas. Toss the garlicky greens and peas with the pasta, squeeze a bit of the lemon over all, and serve with fresh parmesan shavings (if you have the good stuff, by all means, use it on this.).

Too Much of a Good Thing...Can Be a Good Thing

(Above) Arugula: An Adventure Awaits

(Above) Another Bountiful Box!

This week's CSA box from Farmer's Fresh was stuffed with beautiful veggies, including eight ears of corn! Throughout the season, portions are pretty standard for my family package, but every now and then, the fields must be flowing with milk and honey, because I'll get something like eight ears of corn. I have three ears left over from last week, so this gives me an opportunity to try something new and intensely corn-y. I love corn soup and will probably make that again, or maybe try to replicate my grandfather's fried corn, which is not deep-fried, but a creamy sautee of sweet corn in bacon drippings. Just a note about the corn, which we enjoyed last week "on the cob" (I know, that's a weird way to write it.), it is not as sweet as supermarket corn, which is ok with me. This corn is pleasantly corn-tasting, more so than the supersweet grocery store ears.

Also in the box, arugula, ready for its glamour shot in the salad spinner. It didn't really need the wash, but just like my kids, it got a bath anyway. I love the funky arugula smell! This hefty bunch will be put to use several ways - to punch up salads and pastas. Fine Cooking has two recipes that I've tagged - Pasta with Peas, Arugula and Prosciutto, and Arugula Salad with Nectarines and Fresh Raspberry Vinaigrette. I may be Madmomming (ad-libbing) a bit, and will report back.

Coming out of the box today:

1. Blueberries - these may possibly be the last for the season. Last year, we had blueberries into August, and I haven't made my blueberry pie for the summer. I may be foraging for blueberries soon.

2. Two zucchini. Maybe grilled with some sort of vinaigrette, or maybe tossed into an arugula pasta. I'm also planning a ratatouille, so if they can hang out until I get eggplant, tomatoes and peppers together...

3. A fragrant bunch of parsley. Tabbouleh, anyone? I love tabbouleh, really grain salads in general, and I think it's time to introduce them to my kids (good luck). Tabbouleh is a good opportunity to showcase the...

4. 6 tomatoes. Two teeny-weeny plus one normal Roma; and one each yellow, orange and red heirloom-type tomatoes.

5. A cute head of garlic. Not nearly as big as the farmer's market garlic I found last month, but it will certainly go to good use in my garlic-loving kitchen.

6. Another pretty cantaloupe. Last week's was sweet and juicy and this one holds promise as well. It can only be better than the supermarket melon I bought two days ago. Pale orange flesh, even paler flavor. If you're a smoothie artiste, as I sometimes pretend I am, melon makes a great fiber-rich filler, just chunk it up and pulverize along with juice, dairy and whatever other fruit is on hand.