Arugula and Spinach Pesto

Dear fellow Richmonders - I'm back from Michigan! I am a bit off-schedule in terms of my posting due to the craziness of moving into my apartment, meeting and greeting my new roommate (yay!), and attending dental school orientation (wo0-hoo!). I have met some wonderful people these past few days and they are sure to make my dental school experience exciting and rewarding.

I moved in last Friday and had absolutely nothing in the fridge (save for some sandwich scraps), so when a fellow dental student invited me over to make dinner, I quickly suggested this yummy recipe. I've been craving pesto and something spicy (I wasn't sure what) for a while and this is the perfect marriage of the two.

The recipe is one of Giada's and you can find the original here - I've included it here with my modifications.

1 cup walnuts, slightly chopped

4 cloves garlic

1 small jalapeno (about 2 inches long)

2 cups grated Asiago cheese

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 cup arugula (maybe a little less)

1 cup spinach (I like baby spinach)

1/2 cup olive oil

1 pound fusilli pasta, or any pasta with a lot of grooves

more Asiago to use when serving

In a food processor or grinder combine the nuts into a nice powder, along with the spices. Then add the cheese, leaves, olive oil, and jalapeno. We took out the ribs and seeds of the jalapeno (this is where a lot of the heat lives) and it wasn't actually that spicy. Note that when using jalapeno, wash your hands thoroughly before touching anything - especially your eyes! Or use gloves.

Cook the pasta in boiling, salted water until al dente. Drain and add the pesto - as much as you like. Mix in 1/2 cup more of Asiago and let that melt in. Serve and garnish with a little more cheese :) Store any extra pesto in the fridge covered with a light layer of olive oil.

We made this in a blender and I really wouldn't recommend that. If you must, though, you'd have to add a little water in the bottom and make sure to do it in batches so the blender can keep grinding and such.

Dr. Who and Pizza Night

I have a few friends who are into SciFi shows - I myself can take 'em or leave 'em. But time with friends is always a must for me, so when they invited me to their Dr. Who Mini Marathon events last week, I agreed and surprised myself by getting into the show too!

We were going to order pizza, but I suggested making a couple instead since I had a bunch of cool ingredients in the fridge. As usual, we bought the dough from Whole Foods (which has upped the price to about $3 from their original $2.50). I cut the dough in half and rolled each out then let them rest for about 30 minutes. I poked the top for air ventilation and blind baked them for about 13 minutes in a 375 degree oven.

We covered one with pesto and layered over fresh mozzarella. The other got a spicy marinara cover and was topped with pepperoni, and marinate olives from the olive bar at Whole Foods. We baked the pizzas a second time just until the cheese was melted and the toppings had a nice crisp on them.

Upon tasting the finished products, the pesto pizza was absolutely divine: nice and buttery from the olive oil in the pesto and the gooey-ness of the fresh mozzarella. I will be making this again soon!

Pesto with a Pop!

Dear Readers,

For the longest time I thought I didn't like pesto. Perhaps because I was confused about what exactly was in it: I just felt it was so unhealthy - I mean, a little olive oil is fine, but people were telling me they used two cups worth, and I am sorry, but that does NOT sound appetizing to me. I decided that I'd have to try to make the stuff eventually, but I could do it on my terms. Here is my recipe for pesto - it's an affordable version, too, because I used walnuts instead of pine nuts. And be sure to read the "Tips" section because I've got a handy way to make the flavors pop.

What You Need

2 cups fresh basil: we got the tender, tiny-leaved type at Whole Foods. They were sooo cute...

1/4 cups nuts: walnut or pine nuts will work - and I didn't do this at the time, but I imagine toasting them would be delish

1/2 cup olive oil, plus a little more when serving/storing

salt, pepper to taste

2 cloves garlic

squirt of lemon

2 to 3 oz parmesean (a block or already grated), optional

What You Do

In a grinder, or food processor, pulse the garlic and salt to make a little paste

Add the nuts and pepper and grind them roughly (if using parmesan cheese, you can add it now)

Add the basil and lemon juice, turn the processor on, and slowly pour in the olive oil till it forms a nice emulsion - DO NOT over-process, chunks of basil are just fine.

Finis!

Tips from the Chef

• I didn't use cheese in mine and I didn't really miss it, but some people really, really enjoy cheese on their pasta, so if you want, add it to the pesto directly or grate some on top before eating
• don't pulse the basil too much - otherwise you break down the enzymes in the leaves and you'll have a really brown-looking pesto, not a bright green
• serve pesto over something that can grab it - like fusilli or some other swirly, ridged pasta
• when serving, add the pesto to your cooked pasta and drizzle over a little bit more olive oil and salt - this makes the mixture pop
• you can actually freeze pesto! just cover it with a little olive oil to retain freshness and use within 4 weeks