Broccoli Arugula Pesto

You know when you are at the grocery store and you buy lots of food with grand plans to cook it all?  And then one thing leads to another and you wind up not having time to cook it all before it goes bad?

Yeah, it happens.

Luckily so did this pesto.  An abundance of arugula got whipped up into this delicious pesto- which extended its life a bit and allowed me to use it as the base for a few more meals!  This is a trick I'll have to remember :)

Some of this pesto was used as a sauce for some homemade whole wheat pizza dough, and got topped with grilled veggies and fresh mozzerella.  The rest got turned into the pasta dish below- both were fantastic! Check out Nosh On.It for other clever ways to use this pesto!

Broccoli Arugula Pesto
inspired by My Darling Lemon Thyme
yield ~4c

Feel free to scale back, or adjust the ingredients based on what you have on hand.

3 heads broccoli, cut into florets
6T cooking water
3-4c arugula (I bet other greens would work well here too)
2 small cloves of garlic
1/4c shredded cheese (could try nutritional yeast if you want to keep it vegan)
1/2c pumpkin seeds (or other nut)
~1/4c extra virgin olive oil
salt
freshly ground black pepper

Bring a large pot of water to a boil over medium-high heat.  Add a sprinkle of kosher salt and add broccoli.  Cook broccoli florets for 3-4 min.  Reserve ~1/2c cooking water and then plunge broccoli florets into a bowl of ice cold water.  Drain the broccoli and add to a blender or food processor.

Add cooking water, arugula, garlic, cheese and pumpkin seeds.  Blend, while drizzling in olive oil until you reach your desired consistency (I used about 1/4c).  Store in the refrigerator for a few days or freeze.

Broccoli Arugula Pesto Noodles with Shrimp and Goat Cheese
recipe by Shannon
Serves 4

1 pkg soba noodles (mine was 8.8oz)
1-1 1/2c broccoli arugula pesto
4oz goat cheese
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1lb uncooked frozen shrimp

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Salt the water, then add the soba noodles.  Cook pasta until al dente, adding in the frozen shrimp for the last 3 minutes of the cooking time.  My total cooking time was ~8min.  Reserve a bit of cooking water before you drain the pasta and shrimp.

[Whether or not you separate the shrimp from the pasta is completely up to you.  I did for picture and portioning purposes, but there's really no need.]

Add pasta back to the pot and add pesto and a few tablespoons of cooking water.  Mix until noodles are well coated, adding more cooking water if it looks dry.  Top noodles with goat cheese, tomatoes and shrimp.

Do you have a go-to use for food that's on it's last legs?