Two Summer Pestos – Arugula and Green Olive

Remember print magazines, or what the industry calls slicks? Nowadays, buying National Geographic or Sunset magazine seems passe and is probably not very good for the planet. So much of the information we consume these days comes from the Internet, online newspapers, and articles; it seems redundant to buy something in print. Yet, if you’re like me (old school), you get a thrill from getting that colorful volume in the mail or off the grocery store shelf. You can’t wait to leisurely flip through the pages, looking at stylized photos and reading the timely articles.

My dear neighbor, Pat, turns 90 this year. She was still in diapers when Gourmet put out its first issue. More than just a food magazine; Gourmet, “the magazine of good living,” ran monthly features such as The Wine Journal, A Gourmet at Large, An Opinionated Palate, (love the snarky Barbara Kafka), and Travel Journal.

Pleasing the experienced gourmand without being supercilious, every month Gourmet turned out 150 pages of food in bucolic settings, well-written articles, and stellar recipes. During the last ten years of publication, Ruth Reichl ran and edited each monthly issue, and boy was it a class act. Conde Nast decided to end publication in 2009. Ruth writes about her time at Gourmet in her book, Save Me the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir.

During a decluttering jag, neighbor Pat gave me her Gourmet collection from the 1990s. Thank you, Pat! The beautiful set of slicks holds a special place in my cookbook collection. I covet my dozen or so issues and refer to them often when in need of cooking inspiration. I especially love Italian recipes found on many of the pages.

Here I give you two of Gourmet’s summer pestos: Arugula and Green Olive Pesto. Each can be employed as a pasta sauce, a bruschetta spread, or a crudités dip. Happy picnicking!

Arugula Basil Pesto

Arugula Basil Pesto

Full of flavor and green goodness, you can whip up this pesto in less than 15 minutes.

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Prep Time 15 mins

Course main dish, Side Dish

Cuisine Italian

Servings 6

Ingredients

  

• 1 bunch fresh arugula (about 3 packed cups)
• ¾ cup walnuts
• ¼ cup grated Parmigiana cheese
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 garlic clove - medium
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

 

• Mince the garlic clove.
• In a food processor, add walnuts, arugula, salt and garlic. Pulse until walnuts are ground fine. With the motor running, drizzle in the olive oil until a creamy consistency is reached. Adjust the amount of olive oil to suit your own taste.

Notes

Makes about 1 cup. Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator for 3 days. To prevent the pesto from turning brown in the fridge, lay plastic wrap down right on the surface, thus preventing exposure to air.

Keyword easy and fast, pesto

Green Olive Pesto

Want another summer pesto? For the classic Genovese basil pesto, click here.
Buon appetito!