Strozzapreti Pasta with Arugula-Pistachio Pesto, Corn-off-the-Cob

At Whole Foods Market yesterday, I found some great looking arugula. I picked it up, remembering that I had heard of the idea of making a pesto sauce out of arugula.

Sure enough, I found a tasty sounding recipe for arugula pistachio pesto! I love pistachios, so this sounded just great. I followed the essence of the recipe, putting in my VitaMix blender about 2 packed cups of washed and dried arugula, a generous amount of olive oil (I don't think I used as much as a third of a cup, as in the recipe), about a quarter cup of shelled and lightly toasted pistachios, a garlic clove, a touch of salt, and a little bit of crushed red pepper (maybe 1/4 teaspoonful).

I blended on low, pulsing and stopping after every 5-7 seconds, for a total of maybe half a minute, until the pesto was just blended. I served it atop some strozzapreti pasta.

The pesto was good, though perhaps not fully up to expectation - my wife found it slightly bitter. I'd like to try this again with baby arugula. There's more than enough pesto left to make a pesto pizza, which is fast and perfect for these few days while we're enjoying the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival.