Spring Time “Green” Pasta with Arugula Pesto Sauce

A few nights ago I was in the mood to experiment. I decided to make green themed pasta since I had a lot of green produce on hand – arugula, zucchini, peas, etc. Honestly, when I was making it and first tasted the sauce I wasn’t so sure about it – it was pretty bitter from the arugula and I just wasn’t that thrilled with the taste. But mixed with the pasta and the zucchini and peas it really had a great complementary flavor that I ended up LOVING. I hope you will too. Ingredients:

1 Zucchini, thinly sliced Spinach (about two large handfuls) Arugula (about two or three large handfuls) tablespoon or so of sunflower seeds 1 large onion (I used 2 small onions) Cream (about 200g or ¾ a cup maybe) Frozen green peas (however much you like – I used about 1 cup I think) Olive Oil Garlic (1 or 2 cloves depending on how much you like garlic) Mustard seed and whole coriander (freshly ground/crushed in a mortar and pestle) salt and pepper Pasta (whatever kind  you want – I used regular spaghetti, next time I think I’ll use whole wheat spirals)

Method:

Spread zucchini slices on a parchment covered cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil (or other oil or fat of choice) and place under the broiler until slightly golden and soft.

Sauté the onion in butter (or other fat of your choice) until tender and translucent. Next sauté the peas.

In a food processor blend spinach, arugula, sauted onion, garlic, sunflower seeds, cream, a bit of olive oil and the seasonings. You can then warm up the sauce a bit in a sauce pan, or you can just leave it raw and room temperature as the pasta will slightly warm it as well.

Make the pasta according the instructions on the package.

Toss the pasta with the sauce, peas, and zucchini. You could also add pieces of asparagus to this for even more of a spring time feel. I later thought that some toasted pine nuts would really go well on top of this pasta and some good parmesan cheese would really be a great addition as well. Feel free to play with it and add things as you desire – I know I will!

Enjoy!

Rejoicing in the journey - Bethany Stedman

This post has been entered in Presto Pasta Nights blog carnival which is being hosted at The Well Seasoned Cook this week. Click on the link to see other great pasta recipes, and check out The Well Seasoned Cook for lots of beautiful food posts.