I’m looking for arugula (rocket for the Brits) ideas, other than the standard raw in salads usage. I have a bumper crop to use before it gets warm and bolts. Thank you!
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I’ll start with a few of my favorite ways to enjoy arugula (rucola):
Pile the leaves on top of homemade pizza, just as you remove it from the oven. Drizzle a little balsamic vinegar on top if that suits you.
Wilt the arugula leaves in pasta as part of an olive-oil based pan sauce. Chopped walnuts or hazelnuts are a pleasant addition. The leaves cook down a lot so this idea can use up a healthy amount.
Put a bed of arugula leaves under grilled meat or fish. Allow the heat from the grilled food to wilt the leaves a bit. You could dress the leaves with olive oil and salt first—or not—depending on the meat/fish.
Include arugula along with spinach and/or chard in a greens pie. Again, this is a handy way to use up a lot of the green stuff.
Make an arugula salad that includes dried cherries that you have soaked in port, slivers of parmesan, and either hazelnuts, walnuts, pistachios, or almonds. I apologize for this being a salad and not kid-friendly (because port) but it’s a nice treat for adults at the table.
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Arugula pesto.
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Tagliata (sp?).
A favourite use for rocket (or rucola as its an Italian dish) in this house.
Bed of rocket, sliced steak on top, shreds of Pamesan to decorate. A bit of crusty bread won’t go amiss.
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I like these ideas - thanks guys! We’ve put it on pizza before after bringing it out of the oven. That’s a hit. I’ve also used it in cold pasta salad but not hot pasta dishes. I like the idea of pie and as a bed for meats. The latter like a salad with hot dressing. I will have to just go out and buy some more greens to mix mine with. I may pass on the pesto for now, since I have a lot of frozen basil pesto that is not being consumed that quickly… I’m wondering though, does the pesto end up bitter? The arugula is definitely on the bitter/spicy side…
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Kind of, but I don’t dislike that. I also make pesto with radish greens.
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Exemplary suggestions.
I pair with radicchio and fennel … Love salads.
And I enjoy very much on my Pizza too …
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I will certainly give it a try some time. I’ve been intrigued by the idea of carrot top pesto too. Especially when basil gets to $11/lb…
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Why don´t you grow some basil indoors at home ?
It is very sensitive to the extreme cold and extreme heat from direct sun …
However, needs good natural illumination.
A Sicilian Tomato Pesto can be a lovely alternative too.
Carrot leaf top greens are not my cup of tea.
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I don’t have enough direct sunlight inside to grow anything. I have a hard time even starting seeds indoors. I’ve grown basil outside several times, but I have never been able to get it big enough, or get enough of it, to make pesto. I believe I bought 3 lbs of pesto last years in order to make about 6 small jars of it for the freezer. I began this process years ago so that I could feed my child pesto who is allergic to nuts.
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Ligurian (Basil) Pesto has pine nuts …
However, if your son or daughter is allergic to nuts; I am sure that you omitted the pine nuts.
Try the Sicilian Tomato Pesto (no nuts in it) and it is real tasty …
Yes, I’ve done that too. I also use carrot greens as a sub for parsley in tuna salad and like that. I don’t even like pesto all that much, but I keep trying to grow carrots and radishes and failing miserably at it, and I’m just trying to get a little return on my investment.
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Exactly. I used basil, parmesan, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. For the Sicilian, do you substitute basil for sundried tomatoes and otherwise proceed like an ordinary pesto (no nuts)?
Oh, I am sorry that a couple of the ideas I offered include nuts. 
Nuts are easily omitted from the dishes.
Not at all - I mental edit as I go. All ideas are good ones except ones that just wouldn’t be the same w/o nuts. Pecan pie for instance!!
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Big pile atop chicken or veal cutlet (milanesa). Dressed with lemon and curls of parmesan.
Same thing atop beef carpaccio.
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This is a fantastic meal, and flexible. I used prunes because I didn’t have figs, and frisée because I didn’t have arugula. You could easily add more greens than called for. The more rustic the bread, the better.
I used thighs, so no flipping was needed, and didn’t bother with broiling. I just started the pan with just the marinated chicken to jumpstart it before adding the bread…
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Yum! I need to bake a bread and see if I have chicken in the freezer.
saute it as you would spinach
You gave me an idea. I’ll try to throw some into minestrone instead of kale and see how that works out.
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