Smoked Almond & Arugula Pesto with Danish Blue Cheese on Toast

Starving after working on getting my new downtown photo studio ready for a shoot, I stop into the BP on Riverside Drive and scour the racks of junk food for something that looks even remotely edible. I spot a small package of smoked almonds. I had never thought much of smoked almonds, but since I have become newly fascinated with smoky flavors, I decided to give them another try. It was a revelation. Crunchy, smoky, salty -- like BACON. My mind began to wander thinking about all of the things I could create with these little smoky beauties. I'd love to make a pasta carbonara with them, but first I had to try a smoked almond and arugula pesto:

2 1/2 cups loosely packed arugula leaves

1/2 cup smoked almonds

olive oil

Everything goes into a mini-prep and is blended. I like to pulse the machine so that the mixture does not turn to mush.

We kicked off the weekend with a drink and a face full of this delicious pesto served with danish-blue cheese on toast. I think it would also make a great sandwich on thick-sliced bread with some heirloom tomatoes and blue cheese or tossed with a favorite pasta. 

After this, we headed downtown to the recently-reopened Five Spot for dinner. Murphy serves up a delicious vegan pasta primavera for $12 and the house dressing is a lemon-ginger concoction that is not to be missed. There is also plenty of other great stuff for any of your meat-eating companions, so drop by there soon.