Spaghetti with Walnut-Arugula Pesto

I love making pesto. There’s just something about the freshness of the basil with the sharp bite of the parmesan cheese that makes my taste buds sing. Recently I was home after a long day and was craving a big bowl of comforting pasta. Tomato sauce seemed too obvious so I thought I’d make a pesto. Of course we had run out of basil and, truth be told, I’m not really a fan of pine nuts so very rarely have them in the house. Instead, we had a fresh bunch of arugula and walnuts and I thought well, I love those together in a salad, why not in a pesto?! I’m sure any Italian would be mortified that I’d veered off from the traditional recipe to create this very Americanized version, but I was all too pleased with the idea. Let me tell you - it was a winner! I mean, just look at that picture and tell me you wouldn’t want to eat that. As if I’d believe you!

If you’ve ever made pesto before, you’ll notice that the bright green nature of the basil can easily turn a more brown/black color as you process it into a paste. The trick to keeping that bright green is to blanch and shock (quickly boil and plunge into ice water) before using in the recipe. Not only does it make for a more vibrant pesto, but I think it preserves some of the flavor of the greens. I use the same water that I cook the spaghetti in that way some of the extracted vitamins from the greens can go back into the spaghetti as it boils. As with almost all of my recipes, you can swap out the greens for anything you may see in season. I’ve made pesto with Swiss Chard, spinach, and even kale - though that’s not my favorite.

One last note: When it’s time to toss the pasta with the sauce, I sometimes shred some cheese over the pasta before adding the pesto. The cheese sticks to the pasta and the sauce sticks to the cheese. To ensure it’s not too thick, mix in some of the hot cooking water to create the perfect creamy consistency. And viola! A quick, easy, versatile meal that anyone will love. I hope you enjoy!

Serves 4

• 3 cups baby arugula, washed thoroughly

• 1 cup walnuts, toasted

• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, plus more for topping

• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

• 1 cup parmesan cheese, plus more for topping

• 1 pound dried spaghetti

• Flaky sea salt 

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and blanch the arugula for 30 seconds then transfer to an ice bath. Do not discard the hot water. Remove the arugula from the ice water and squeeze some of the liquid out of the arugula. Set aside.

Place the walnuts in the bed of a food processor and process for about 1 minute until fairly smooth. Turn off the food processor, scrape the walnuts off the sides of the bowl and add the blanched arugula, garlic, kosher salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes and process for another minute then, with the processor running, slowly drizzle in the extra virgin olive oil through the feed tube. Process for an additional minute then turn off the processor and add the parmesan cheese. Pulse to combine then transfer to a dish until ready to use.

Bring the reserved water from the arugula to a boil and add enough kosher salt to make the water taste like the sea. Add the spaghetti to the boiling water and cook according to the package's directions for al denté. Reserve about 1 cup of the cooking liquid then drain the pasta and toss with the pesto. If the pasta looks dry, you can add a bit of the reserved cooking liquid to moisten. Transfer the pasta to plates, top with any remaining pesto, parmesan cheese, red pepper flakes, and flaky sea salt. Serve hot.