My family loves pasta, but tomato sauce gets boring, so I love to make pesto sauces, especially in the summer when I’m looking for a more light sauce.  Dave Lieberman showed Doctor Oz how to make a healthy and cost effective Summer Pesto Pasta.  I think I would increase the amount of basil and I might substitute spinach for the baby arugula, but that is just a matter of how my family prefers its pesto!

Dave Lieberman’s Pesto Pasta Recipe

Ingredients:

2 handfuls baby arugula

1 handful basil leaves

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup walnuts

1/4 cup grated pecorino

Juice of 1 small lemon

Salt and pepper to taste

1/2 pound whole wheat penne, cooked al dente

A pint of baby tomatoes, sliced in half

Directions:

1.  Mix in a blender the arugula, olive oil, nuts, cheese and lemon juice.  It should be very thick so it coats the pasta well, but you may need to add a bit more olive oil to get the pesto to blend well.

2.  Season with salt and pepper.

3.  Toss whole wheat pasta in the pesto sauce and mix in the baby tomatoes.