Pasta with Tomato, Pine Nut, and Arugula Pesto

Name: Pasta with Tomato, Pine Nut, and Arugula Pesto
Yield: Serves 4 to 6
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 1/4 cup, pine nuts; 12 ounces, cherry or grape tomatoes (about 2 1/2 cups); 3/4 cup, arugula, lightly packed; 1 medium, garlic clove, minced or pressed through garlic press (about 1 teaspoon); 1 small, pepperoncini (hot peppers in vinegar), stemmed, seeded, and minced (about 1/2 teaspoon) (see note); , Table salt; 1 teaspoon, lemon juice; 1 1/4 teaspoons, grated lemon zest; Pinch, red pepper flakes (optional); 1/3 cup, extra-virgin olive oil; 1 pound, pasta, preferably linguine or spaghetti; 1 ounce, Parmesan cheese, grated (about 1/2 cup), plus extra for serving

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Appears in Cook's Illustrated July/August 2009

Not all pesto is basil, pine nuts, and Parmesan. In Sicily, tomatoes and nuts take center stage.

SERVES4 to 6

TIME1¼ hours

Pasta with Tomato, Pine Nut, and Arugula Pesto

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS

For a tomato pesto recipe that didn’t disappoint, we used toasted ground nuts, which provided body and crunch to offset the tomatoes’ pulpiness, and a modest amount of olive oil to make the sauce creamy without too much richness. The result...

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