A friend served us arugula and prosciutto sandwiches on home-made focaccia last week, and all I can say is YUM!   I grow arugula at home and get a tad tired of arugula salads, so inspired by friend Jamie’s fresh and tasty dinner – I have gone on a quest to find more tasty ways to use my garden’s bounty.

Arugula Flavor

Arugula is a taste that is described as “nutty,” “peppery,” and “slightly bitter.” All of these are apt descriptors for this member of the mustard family. It is closely kin to both mustard greens and horseradish. Arugula is one of those plants that is also sometimes described as “too bitter,” or “too sharp,” or “too spicy.” Luckily, there are ways to use it anyway – like in my pesto below!

Arugula is Called a Superfood

The nutritional value of arugula is a long bit of information, so we have posted it on it’s own page.  We don’t want you to have to wade through tons of text to get to the recipes.

Home Grown (or Store Bought) Bounty

If you grow your own arugula, you will know that the flavor depends on the seed source, but also how you take care of it. More on growing arugula on Gardening With Soule. Something I should have said there – if you save seed, the flavor next year is a bit of a crap shoot unless you cross them to each other and then cover the flowers to keep the bees out.

While classic arugula salad is the first thing that comes to mind, this peppery green is versatile enough to use in main dishes that benefit from a bit of a peppery bite. I am still experimenting, but here are two ways to use your arugula. One fresh, one fresh or frozen.

Insalata Caprese

Upon investigation, I discovered that Jamie basically re-invented the Ensalata Caprese – and served it to us on a slice of “bread.” You can call it Caprese salad or “salad from Capri.” It is a classic, crowd-pleasing appetizer, side dish, or light lunch that’s as refreshing and very easy to prepare.

This salad was only invented after tomatoes were brought from the New World to the old, but it quickly became a staple. The salad consists of a ripe tomato picked off the vine, sliced and served with fresh fior di latte (cow’s milk mozzarella). On Capri, the dish included a few leaves of wild arugula, and a pinch of local dried wild oregano, but elsewhere in Italy, basil is tradition.

Keep it simple. No pesto. No balsamic glaze needed, or if you do use it use just a touch! Have care that the vinegar does not drown out the delicate flavor of the cheese. A touch of prosciutto blends very well with both the mozzarella and the arugula.

Too Much Arugula?

If your garden has flourished this year or you couldn’t resist the sale at the supermarket and you’ve got more arugula than you can eat before it goes bad, one thing is to freeze the rest. But what to do with frozen arugula? It sure doesn’t go in a salad! Just like spinach, you can cook many delightful dishes with arugula. Pizza, pasta, pesto, eggs, and so many more.

Instead of freezing, I prefer to turn it into arugula pesto!

Arugula Pesto Experiments

Take the basic pesto recipe we posted a while ago, and instead of basil, use arugula.  We do have a vegan pesto on our YouTube channel. It’s mildly crunchy, not creamy, and tastes great with gluten free pasta.

I started there but YIKES! It was too sharp and too bitter. So I added sugar. That helped. Added some balsamic vinegar. Nope. Started over. Tried some lemon juice instead. Yes. Then instead of sugar – maple syrup. Oh Yea! Why not honey? It just seemed not right to pair with arugula in my mind – but that’s an experiment for next time.

Here is the recipe I came up with:

Arugula Pesto

1 cup of fresh arugula leaves - about 4 ounces (a generous double handful)
3 Tablespoons maple syrup
1 /4 cup raw walnuts (I was out of pine nuts)
1 /4 cup olive oil
2 teaspoon lemon juice

Rinse arugula and pat dry.

Place walnuts in a food processor and chop until small – about the size of sunflower seeds.

Add the arugula and pulse.

Once arugula is partially chopped, add the maple syrup, olive oil, and lemon juice.

Blend until it is of your desired consistency.

Depending on the moisture content of your arugula leaves, you may wish to add a little more olive oil or lemon juice.

Looking Forward

I am thinking of using more of the frozen arugula to make two other recipes. First is some Arugula Latkes or Fritters. The other is some Arugula Dumplings because I have canned too many jars of soup (if there is such a thing) and they need to be made into a more filling dinner than just plain “soup.” Stay tuned!

How About You?

How do you use your arugula? Share your ideas with us – because we love to try new flavors. As Uncle Smokey says, “One thing I never get tired of is variety.”

Thanks for reading
The Savorists

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