Rocket Pesto Pasta: An Easy Recipe.
Italians call this green and spicy sauce "pesto di rucola". It is a variation of the traditional Genovese pesto made with basil, where this aromatic herb is replaced by arugula leaves. We offer you to discover the recipe for pasta with rocket pesto in pictures.
Ingredients
Here are the necessary ingredients to prepare rocket pesto pasta for 4 people:
75g of rocket
30g of almond powder
25g of parmesan or grana padano
1 clove of garlic
6 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of pasta cooking water
2 tablespoons of heavy or vegetable cream (optional)
salt and pepper
Note: in the recipe for Italian Genovese pesto, pine nuts are traditionally used. You can also incorporate them into the rocket pesto recipe. However, when you do not have this ingredient at home, it is simpler and more economical to use almonds or even almond powder, as indicated in the list of ingredients above.
Preparation of pesto.
I suggest preparing the sauce on the same day, just before cooking the rocket pesto pasta.
1- Wash and dry the rocket leaves.
2- Peel the garlic clove and remove its germ.
3- Mix the almond powder and garlic clove together.
4- Gradually add the rocket leaves and mix after each addition.
5- Transfer the rocket pesto to a bowl for easier mixing, then add the olive oil and grated grana padano or parmesan.
Variations of arugula pesto.
As arugula salad has a certain bitterness, you may find the taste of arugula pesto too strong or spicy.
In this case, you can soften this sauce using several tricks.
The first one is to mix arugula leaves with basil leaves in equal parts, as in a traditional Genovese pesto.
Another trick is to add a bit of mascarpone, ricotta, or full-fat or plant-based cream to the pesto.
Preparing pasta.
1- Cook the pasta of your choice in a large pot of salted water.
2- When they are cooked to your liking, drain the pasta and return it to the hot pot. I recommend keeping some pasta cooking water to loosen the pesto with two tablespoons of water.
3- Add rocket pesto and 2 tablespoons of cream to the pot until your pasta is well coated.
4- Serve the rocket pesto pasta immediately.
Note: you can decorate each plate with rocket leaves and add shavings of parmesan or grana padano for more indulgence. I intentionally reduced the proportion of grated cheese in the pesto so that I could add parmesan shavings to the plates.
Rocket pesto preservation
If you don't use all your arugula pesto at once, you can store it in a glass jar in the refrigerator.
For optimal preservation of your pesto, I recommend covering the sauce with a layer of olive oil.
This trick will prevent the pesto from oxidizing because the oil forms an impermeable layer that prevents it from coming into contact with air.
