Baked Tilapia with Arugula and Pecan Pesto

My am secretly very jealous of my friend "V." Of her and her TWO huge and over growing basil plants. I have a dark brown black thumb and can't grow anything.

Any.thing.

So every time I go to her house and see her large glorious green basil plant that smells divine, all I can think of is how much I love basil and love pesto and hate her for having a green thumb and hate the fact that I have to pay like gold for basil at the grocery store instead of it magically growing in my backyard.

But as I have mentioned all week that while the basic ingredients of pesto sauce are basil, pine nuts, parmesan cheese and olive oil; pesto is very interchangeable and easily adaptable.

I love today's recipe and version of pesto using arugula and pecans in lieu of basil and pine nuts. The arugula adds a nice bit of peppery spice and the pecans add a buttery and slightly earthy flavor.

This is an extremely fast and affordable meal. If you are on a time crunch at dinner you can always make the pesto ahead of time and then have dinner in way less than 30 minutes.

Looking for more ways to change up your pesto or tips for storing pesto check this out!

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Baked Tilapia with Arugula and Pecan Pesto
Printable Version  
Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes Serves: 4

3 cups arugula leaves, rinsed and dried
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoon grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper and salt, to taste
4 (6.0 ounce) fillets tilapia

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.
Combine 3 cups arugula, garlic, pecans, olive oil, 1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, black pepper and salt in a blender or food processor and blend until it reaches the consistency of a pesto sauce.

Place the tilapia fillets in prepared pan. Spread the pesto generously on top of fillets. Sprinkle each fillet with 1/2 tablespoon of remaining Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.
Bake in preheated oven until fish flakes easily, about 20 minutes.

adapted from Food on the Table