The strange thing about this pasta recipe is that I find one component inedible: the arugula pesto. When we moved onto this station, we tasted the leftover pesto the last team made and we immediately spit it out. Our thought process? They screwed up, we’ll make it better.

Then I made it again. I pureed arugula, pine nuts, garlic, and oil together, and it was still as puckering as the first bite. But the miraculous thing about this dish is that when you mix the pesto into the pasta with the olives, pine nuts, sun-dried tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, and arugula–it’s delicious. It’s like magic. The bite of the pesto (thanks to the arugula and garlic) disappears. And the shape of the homemade cavatelli laps up the sauce. It’s a great dish. I recommend it.

TIP OF THE DAY: If you order a dish that has several components (sauce, meat, garnish, etc), try to capture a little of everything for your first bite.

Cavatelli topped with arugula.