Arugula Pesto

I really suck as a blogger. Seriously. The whole time i was making this...i kept thinking to myself...this would make such a great Blog entry. FAIL. I'm a terrible multi-tasker (taking pics and cooking all at the same time)...and Hubby was off doing Man things (attending to his grass/changing the cat liter ;) ) so i couldn't even ask him to take pics for me.

The reason i chose to make this is because i don't know about you, but if you've ever bought Trader Joes fresh bag salads (any type), you usually have to eat them within the first 2 or 3 days. NO MORE. They spoil rather quickly...but the good thing is that you can always return the bag and get a fresh one...which is always great, but honestly...who wants to waste 1/2 hour out of there day to return a bag of salad? Not me.

Well, i bought a bag of arugula on Sunday. I made a salad for myself 2 days in a row, and i still had lots left. So i decided to make PESTO.

Here is how i made it:

Arugula Pesto Recipe

2 cups of packed arugula leaves, stems removed
1/2 cup of shelled walnuts
1/2 cup fresh Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (i used TJ's spanish olive oil)
6 garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1- In a frying pan, brown 6 garlic cloves over medium high heat until the garlic is lightly browned in places, about 10 minutes. Remove the garlic from the pan, cool

2- Toast the walnuts in the same pan over medium heat until lightly brown.

3- In a food processor (I used my mini chopper): Combine the arugula, salt, walnuts, roasted garlic, and parmasean cheese. Pulse while drizzling the olive oil into the processor/chopper. Remove the mixture from the processor and put it into a bowl.

and Voila! Pesto!

=

I made my pesto with mini whole wheat penne...and i also made chicken sausage, and cut into little pieces. Let me just tell you...hubby and i were licking our plates clean!! I even had enough to bring to work for lunch!