Every morning I eat my breakfast cereal over a cooking magazine. Â My husband thinks I’m crazy to eat food and read about it at the same time, but it works for me. Â Heck, maybe I am crazy, only time will tell! Â I recently came across the idea to make zucchini into a pesto. Â I turned from the table, looked at my pile of garden zucchini on the counter, and immediately marked the page for later! Â My lemony zucchini arugula pesto is great as a dip or a spread!
Arugula pesto is possibly my favorite type of pesto. Â I like it more than basil pesto, which is only helping to prove my husbands point; I’m crazy. Â When I was dreaming up how to create my own zucchini pesto, I knew immediately that I wanted to use arugula! Â I sowed some arugula seeds into my garden recently for a fall harvest, and I can’t wait for it to be ready! Â We are going to eat loads of this zucchini arugula pesto!
Variations to the Lemony Zucchini Arugula Pesto recipe:
- If you are not a lover of arugula, try basil, spinach, or parsley instead.
- I’m certain this recipe would work with yellow summer squash as well, but the color won’t be as green.
- To make this recipe nut free, try toasted pepitas (hulled pumpkin seeds).
- If you forget to squeeze out all the moisture from the zucchini, you can still cook it out on the stop top, but it will take a lot longer.
Lemony Zucchini Arugula Pesto
Lemony zucchini arugula pesto is a great refreshing way to use up your garden zucchinis! Try the pesto as a dip or a sandwich spread.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: 1 1/2 cups
- Category: Condiment
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup pecans
- 1 1/2 lbs zucchini (1 large or 2 small)
- 2 TBS olive oil, divided
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 cup packed arugula
- 1/2 a lemon, juiced (about 2 TBS)
- 1/2 tsp lemon zest
- 1/4 tsp salt and pepper, each
- 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Toast pecans in a large skillet until fragrant and lightly browned, 3-5 minutes. Remove from the skillet.
- Shred the zucchini using a box grater or food processor fitted with a shredding disk.
- Place zucchini in a clean kitchen towel and squeeze out as much moisture as you can.
- Combine the zucchini, and 1 TBS olive oil in the skillet. Cook uncovered over medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Let the zucchini brown, but not burn.
- Combine arugula, garlic and toasted pecans in a food processor fitted with a S-blade. Process until finely chopped.
- Add remaining oil, cooked zucchini, lemon juice and zest, and salt and pepper. Process until combined.
- Stir in Parmesan Cheese.
This recipe was inspired by Cooking Light.
This is such an interesting combination for a pesto and I can’t wait to try it. Hope you are having a great week and thanks so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday.
Come Back Soon!
Miz Helen
You will love it, Miz Helen! Have a great weekend!
Yumm!
Thank you, Lin!