I have a problem with wasting food, especially expensive food, even though I end up doing it all the time and feeling really guilty about it. Today I looked in the fridge and saw this half-bag of pricey organic arugula that was on its very last legs. So I picked through it to try to salvage it. After spending 20 minutes and throwing away about half of it, the arugula seemed kind of skeevy and I didn't want to eat it as is. I knew that to consume it I would have to pulverize it beyond recognition. Ergo, this pesto recipe was born! And it was quite delicious.



While I suspect you could do a lot of different things with this pesto, but I can only share with you what I did. I boiled about 6 oz. of gnocchi, then sauteed the gnocchi and an ear's worth of corn kernels (also pretty ancient, but in surprisingly great shape) in a little bit of olive oil. When they were brown and crispy, I turned off the heat and threw in a few spoonfuls of pesto, tossed the mixture together, and ate it. I really like corn and arugula together, and I have a soft spot for gnocchi, but this would work with any type of pasta.



So clean out your fridge already and get some good eats on!


Arugula Pesto

Ingredients:

• 1 cup washed arugula leaves
• 1/4 c washed parsley leaves
• 1/4 of a small red onion
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 2 Tblsp almonds
• 1/2 cup grated parmigiano
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• salt and pepper

Method:

• Put arugula, parsley, and onion in a food processor and pulse to chop.
• Add lemon, almonds, and parmigiano and pulse a few more times.
• With the motor running, drizzle olive oil in slowly.
• Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.