Arugula Pesto Pasta
It's no secret that I love arugula. Check out Uncle Bill's Arugula Salad recipe if you're looking for a great arugula salad. Arugula has a flavor that some people call "peppery" or "spicy" and it adds a whole new dimension when combined with other greens (or used by itself) in a salad. Arugula has been popular in Italian cuisine since Roman times- it's the
one green that my Italian friends always have growing in their vegetable
garden. It wasn't so popular in the US until more recently, when it
more or less became "the new spinach"...especially in the restaurant
world. It's so easy when Trader Joe's makes pre-washed, organic
arugula so accessible. The other nice thing about arugula is that it can add a fresh element to an otherwise ordinary pasta dish. Great color, great flavor, and great texture. Everyone in our family gobbles this one up. You can use either the refrigerated or jarred pesto available at Trader Joe's - they're each about 7 oz of pesto. My personal longtime favorite has been the refrigerated version.
Arugula Pesto Pasta
1/2 pkg penne pasta
1 pkg Basil Pesto Chicken Sausage, sliced
1 pkg refrigerated Genova Pesto (or 1 jar Pesto alla Genovese)
1/2 pkg Organic Arugula Salad
Parmesan cheese, shredded or grated
1. Boil pasta in salted water, according to package directions.
2. While pasta is boiling, pan-fry chicken sausage in lightly oiled pan. Although the sausage is fully cooked, pan-frying gives it a nice brown color and added texture. You could microwave the sausage instead, if you prefer.
3. When pasta is cooked, drain. Immediately stir in pesto until noodles are coated.
4. Toss in warm sausage slices and arugula. The heat from the pasta and sausage will slightly wilt the arugula leaves.
5. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, if desired.
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My mother calls arugula "rocket." I guess that's the British word for it. I had no idea arugula was the same thing for years. I really like the arugula at TJ. It's really fresh and clean. Using it in pasta is a new one for me!
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Tjoe's has all ingredients to make real Italian pesto: basil (lots), pine nuts, ground pecorino, garlic , olive oil, no salt because the pecorino is quite salty. shred the basil leaves and a little garlic in olive oil (takes almost half a liter on one of those basil boxes,but try to use as little as possible) in the blender to a fine purree, then add pine nuts (lots, they carry flavor) and grind some more, pour it out, and mix with ground pecorino, which makes it into a thick paste. Use the stuff you can't get out of the blender for salad dressing with balsamico. This is far superior to any parsley-, walnut- or sunflower oil- diluted premade pesto. It loses some flavor after a week in the fridge but doesnt go bad after a month. longer periods not tested.
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I'm making this over the weekend.
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I just made this and it was good! However I used the basil chicken sausage because I couldn't find the kind you specified. I would never have thought to put arugula in hot pasta. It was tasty!
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I adore arugula! It's so tasty that I don't know why anyone eats any other kind of greens!
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