I wish I had come up with the idea for this dish on my own! If I had, I would have thrown a party for myself for being so awesome.

But, alas, the inspiration for this recipe came from the back of a Trader Joe’s bag of arugula!

Thank you yet again, Trader Joe’s.

I took the concept and rolled with it, making adjustments to my tastes. Toasted walnuts inside give the pesto that warm, nutty flavor. No need to crank up the oven–just toss them in a dry pan over medium-high heat for a few minutes to toast!

The addition of some satuéed cremini mushrooms gives a really nice extra bite and earthy flavor to the pasta.

And, of course, you’ll need lots of fresh arugula. I love this vegetable, the flavor is so unique and delicious. Who knew it would make an AMAZING pesto?

And the whole dish comes together in about 30 minutes in one pan!

I love that you get your greens in with this pasta without even trying! The flavor is mild so don’t be concerned that the arugula flavor will be overpowering. Even if you don’t like arugula plain, I bet that you would still love this.

Make this! It will change the way that you think about pesto.

I have to give a closing statement to one of my classes tonight…definitely not my idea of fun! At least I had a good lunch. 😉

Are you a pesto fan? Have you ever made a non-basil pesto?

Thanks for reading!