Herb & Arugula Pesto

I like to create pestos with a variety of flavors. In this pesto, I use basil and mint along with fresh arugula. You can also use different flavored olive oils to create different flavor profiles for your pesto. I like to use lemon and orange scented olive oil for my pestos. Freeze the pesto in ice cube trays. When frozen, remove and place in zip lock freezer bags. Remove pesto cubes as you need them.

By Chef Terri Milligan | September 01, 2013

Ingredients

1 ½ cups fresh arugula, cleaned
½ cup basil leaves, loosely packed
¼ cup mint leaves, loosely packed
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup grated or shredded Parmesan or Asiago cheese
1/3 cup slivered pine nuts
½ cup extra virgin olive oil, approximately
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Place the arugula, basil, mint, garlic, and cheese in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Pulse to combine, scraping down the sides as needed. Add the pine nuts and pulse several times.

With machine running, gradually add approximately ½-cup olive oil and puree until smooth. The amount of oil needed is up to each individual. If you prefer a thicker pesto, put less olive oil in the pesto. If you prefer a thinner pesto, add a little more olive oil.

Season with salt and pepper as needed.

Transfer pesto to a bowl. Can be made a day ahead and refrigerated. To freeze the pesto, place pesto into ice cube freezer trays. Freeze. Pop out the frozen pesto and put in freezer bags. You can pull out pesto as you need it in small quantities.