Ingredients
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3 cups arugula, young, rinsed clean, and chopped up roughly
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4 tablespoons parsley, finely chopped
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3 ounces walnuts
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2 ounces parmesan cheese, coarsely grated OR
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2 ounces pecorino cheese, coarsely chopped
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6 tablespoons olive oil, preferably extra-virgin
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1 tablespoon lemon juice
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1/2 teaspoon salt (pref. flaky sea salt)
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1/2 teaspoon black pepper, coarsely ground
Instructions
- To measure, push the roughly chopped arugula into your measuring cup -- not too hard, but don't measure loosely.
- Put this in your processor.
- Add the rest of the ingredients, and whizz.
- I prefer a pesto which is not too smooth, but slightly "granular" still.
- NOTES: If you're using ready-washed arugula and parsley which are dry, you might want to add a tiny bit more oil. Mine usually has water on the leaves, which adds to the liquid available.
- You can toast the walnuts lightly. I prefer walnuts because they contain more oil than other nuts.
- The arugula should definitely be young -- the moment they start going to seed the leaves become very bitter.
- The pesto should stand, covered, in the fridge for a few hours or more, as the flavours then meld better. Delicious forked into hot al dente spaghetti, with extra, fresh parmesan shavings on top. Can be dropped into a mixed greens salad by teaspoonsful.
- I eat this on hot toast as well. (Ah well, takes all kinds to make a world -- !).