Recipe: Asparagus & Arugula

Pesto is one of our summer standbys, and anyone who had been to the cottage with us will know that we always like to keep some authentic italian pesto on hand for a quick and easy lunch. Ha!

I normally grow enough basil to make our basil pesto once a week, but what to do in the spring when things are starting to grow but the basil isn't quite in pesto quantities yet?

My good friend Shana inspired me to use my evesthrough arugula for something besides salads. 

Inspired by her arugula pesto recipe posted over on folks gotta eat along with what is in season in my garden and at the farmers market, I combined our favourite pesto recipe with Shana's and made this amazingly peppery pesto that stays perfectly green even after a few days in the fridge. 

Here I am with the clingy toddler picking garlic and arugula for dinner.

4 cups of washed arugula

4 young garlic shoots and scapes

4 cloves of garlic

1 cup of pine nuts

½ cup parmesan cheese 

½ cup of olive oil

1/8 teaspoon pepper

½ teaspoon of salt

Whizz it all up in the food processor or blender.  I do nuts and cheese first followed by greens and oil and then the salt and pepper. We also threw in some chives because we have them in the garden and they're perfect right now. 

Like arugula, this is pesto is perfect on a tomato sandwich. We served this batch up on some ravioli with the last of this year's fiddleheads and some fabulous Organic Asparagus from Nightingale Farms.  Nightingale is quite the operation, with 1500 acres in Norfolk County which is where Ryan is from. 

Deliciously Green!

Check out this great video from OMFRA and Foodland Ontario on how Asparagus is harvested.  Its sort of mind blowing.

Recipe: Perfect Pesto

The last pesto of the season is always delicious but also a little sad.  I suppose not having fresh pesto all winter just makes it more delicious in the spring.  I’ll try to make this quick and painless so I don’t miss it too much.  Pesto is so, so, so simple to make and absolutely one of my favorite foods.

You’ll need:

4 cups of washed basil with stems and flowers removed

1 cup of pine nuts

¼ - ½ cup of olive oil

4 cloves of garlic

1/8 teaspoon pepper

½ teaspoon of salt

garlic scapes

¼ cup of parsley

We typically pick basil right into the salad spinner, then we can collect it, wash and dry it really easily.

Its important to sample your ingredients.

In your food processor, combine pine nuts and garlic and pulse a few times to start your chopping.  Add the basil, parsley and scapes, probably in two batches.  Add the olive oil to keep things moving as you continue chopping with the food processor.  Last but not least, add the salt and pepper.

We used to use a blender, but after two were destroyed by making this recipe, we invested in a real food processor.  Blenders are for smoothies, not nuts.

It will keep for up to a week in a tightly sealed container in the fridge, but we've never been able to last that long with out eating it all.

Our favourite way to eat it is on pasta with tomatoes from the garden. Beyond pasta, it is essential on tomato sandwiches, wonderful on pizza and our old roommate even used to eat spoonfuls straight out of the fridge in the middle of the night.     

Stayed tuned for a post on BBQed pesto pizza by the end of the week.