When the farmers’ markets are filled with fresh baby arugula, cook up this scrumptious pasta dish to take advantage of the bounty. It’s intensely flavorful and filling, simple to make and looks fantastic when dressed up with the charred cherry tomatoes.
Serve with a slice of warm semolina focaccia for a a crowning touch. Of course you can use “regular” spaghetti, but try whole wheat spaghetti if you haven’t before and you’ll be convinced it’s more flavorful.
Here are a few other delicious pasta recipes:
Savory Butternut Squash and Pasta
Spaghetti with Arugula Pesto and Roasted Tomatoes
Prep
Cook
Total
Yield 4 servings
Tangy and sweet with arugula and tomatoes, this pasta dish is perfect for a savory vegan supper.
Ingredients
- 1 large bag fresh baby arugula (about 10 cups loosely packed)
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
- 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1/3 cup pine nuts
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- dash cayenne pepper
- fine sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- lemon wedges for garnish
- 1 lb cherry tomatoes
- 1 lb whole wheat spaghetti (use gluten free pasta if desired)
Instructions
Heat the olive oil to medium in a small frying pan and add the pine nuts and garlic. Stir gently and watch the pan so that the ingredients don't burn. When the pine nuts start to brown and the garlic begins to cook, take the pan off the heat and add the nuts and garlic immediately to the bowl of a food processor. (Gently heating the nuts and garlic brings out the best flavor and cuts the raw garlic taste, but you can skip this step if you prefer your garlic raw.)
Add the arugula, packing it in carefully, the nutritional yeast, a teaspoon of salt and the cayenne pepper. Process the mixture until mostly smooth. If it seems dry, add olive a teaspoon at a time until it looks moist but not runny. Don't add too more than 2 or 3 more teaspoons of oil.
Add the cherry tomatoes to a large non-stick pan and cook them over a medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes until they are slightly blackened and mostly cooked. They should look deflated but not shriveled. Keep them warm in the pan. Add a few grinds of fresh black pepper.
Cook the spaghetti in well-salted water according to the package timing directions. When it is done, drain it and return it to the pan, add the pesto and stir well to combine. Divide the spaghetti among your serving plates and top each serving with a scoop of the charred tomatoes. Garnish each plate with a lemon wedge which makes the flavor of the dish complete.
Cuisine Mediterranean
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