Who doesn’t love a great pasta dish?  Lately I’ve been on quite the pesto kick, but soon I will be testing out some tomato sauce dishes with our fresh grown tomatoes!  This dish is more about using up some leftover ingredients, and it also has the added benefit of being healthy-ish (it does have bacon…)  When the friend brought over the eggplant the other day, he also gave us some arugula, so after a few arugula salads I decided to take it to the next level and try a pesto!  I’d never bought pine nuts before, and I know they’re a little pricey, but you only need a small amount, so try to get them from a place that lets you measure the nuts you need.  This was probably my best pesto so far!  So give this amazingly easy recipe a try!

Ingredients:

• 8 cups (6 oz) arugula
• 1 cup basil leaves
• 1/2 cup pine nuts
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2/3 cup olive oil
• 1 lb. pasta- your choice! (I used fettuccine tonight)
• fresh ricotta cheese
• crumbled bacon

Directions:

Using a large food processor, combine arugula, basil, pine nuts, Parmesan, garlic and salt.  Add olive oil slowly until blended.  Cook pasta until al dente (according to package directions.)  Once cooked, drain and toss with pesto.  Serve with a dollop of ricotta cheese and as much bacon as you want!

Note: For the healthy version, omit the bacon and use a very small amount of ricotta.  It will still be delicious!