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Monday, October 17, 2011

Arugula Mascarpone Pesto

Arugula pesto
 We have some gorgeous arugula growing in our yard. I love the strong peppery taste of arugula. It is starting to get cold and it is time to use the arugula.
I decided to make pesto. I was a little worried that the arugula would be too strong, so I decided to balance the peppery taste with mascarpone. Yes, mascarpone. Yum.... I love mascarpone cheese.
I make my pesto differently than most people. I add the arugula (or basil or parsley or spinach) last. I don't want to over process the arugula.You may also use walnuts, almonds, or hazelnuts instead of pine nuts.If you are serving this with pasta, reserve about a cup of pasta water and add about a tablespoon of the pasta water to each bowl of pasta when you mix the pasta with the pesto.

Pesto

1/2 Cup (68 g) Pine Nuts, Lightly Toasted
1/2 Cup (100 g) of Parmesan Cheese
4 Cloves of Garlic
1/4 Cup (60 ml) of Olive Oil
2 Handfuls (56 g) of Arugula
1/2 Cup (113 g) of Mascarpone Cheese

Combine pine nuts, cheese, and garlic in a food processor and process until smooth.
Processed pine nuts, garlic, and cheese
Slowly add olive oil until well combined. Add arugula and process until arugula is chopped and well mixed.
Arugula waiting to be mixed in
Place pesto into a bowl and fold in the mascarpone.
Fold in mascarpone cheese
Final pesto
The bottom line: will we make this again? Yes, I like the peppery taste of the arugula and the creaminess that the macarpone adds.
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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousOctober 18, 2011 at 5:35 AM

    I like the idea of the arugula, maybe even to add it to my basil pesto too, just for that little bit of kick ... you may be on to something!

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  2. AmyOctober 21, 2011 at 9:44 AM

    I love using arugula. In addition to basil, I have used cilantro, parsley, a mixture of parsley and thyme, a mixture of basil and mint, and in the dead of winter baby spinach.

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