Turn springtime greens into a great dinner with this bright arugula pesto recipe served with toasted barley and sausage coins.
In a large skillet, toast pepitas for 1 - 2 minutes over medium heat. Spoon in to a bowl and set aside.
With heat still on medium, add 2 tablespoons olive oil to the same skillet used for the pepitas, then add barley, and, stirring often, toast for 5 minutes. Scrape toasted barley into a large pot of salted boiling water, boil 15 - 17 minutes or until al dente, strain, and set aside.
Meanwhile, in the same skillet used for toasting, sauté sausage over medium heat. Cook each side about 10 minutes, or until casing is a rich golden brown. Allow casings to set up over medium heat and edge the heat up as they cook (this helps prevent the casing from bursting). During the last two minutes or so, edge the heat back down, and cover until sausages have an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.
While sausage cooks, make pesto. In the bowl of a food processor, pulse 5 or 6 times to combine toasted pepitas, arugula, and garlic. With food processor running constantly, drizzle in lemon juice and olive oil, then salt, processing until mixture is smooth, but with a little texture. Taste, and adjust salt or acid levels as needed.