Recipe

Kale Pesto

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by WinnieAb

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by ibbeachnana

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by ibbeachnana

This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Greens
kate's Testing Notes: Believe it or not, I've only ever had kale pesto made with raw greens. The blanching step in ibbeachnana's recipe definitely makes for a more subtle end result. Her pesto tastes more like...
Believe it or not, I've only ever had kale pesto made with raw greens. The blanching step in ibbeachnana's recipe definitely makes for a more subtle end result. Her pesto tastes more like miscellaneous greens than earthy, slightly bitter kale. So this is a great sauce for the kale-shy. To intensify the flavor, I would cook the kale less or maybe not at all. And, next time, I’d toast the nuts to add more nuttiness. - kate

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ibbeachnana's Notes: Someone brought me a huge bag of kale last year and I made my first kale pesto out of some of it, froze a good amount for the winter, finished it all off so this is the perfect time for another...
Someone brought me a huge bag of kale last year and I made my first kale pesto out of some of it, froze a good amount for the winter, finished it all off so this is the perfect time for another batch or two.

As with any pesto you can change the amounts of garlic and oil. I used some lemon juice and a little Meyer lemon olive oil for a fresh batch today. - ibbeachnana

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Makes about 1- 1 1/2 cups

1 big bunch of kale, rinsed, ribs removed and torn into large pieces Ask a question about this ingredient

3/4 cups EVOO, 2 tablespoons of which was Meyer lemon olive oil Ask a question about this ingredient

1/2 cup Parmigiano, microplaned Ask a question about this ingredient

2 cloves garlic, smashed and rough chopped Ask a question about this ingredient

1/2 cup pine nuts Ask a question about this ingredient

Salt and pepper to taste Ask a question about this ingredient

1 tablespoon lemon juice, fresh Ask a question about this ingredient

Blanch the kale in boiling salted water for about 3 minutes and chill down in a cold water bath, drain and squeeze excess water. Place into small work bowl of food processor and pulse to start breaking up the kale, add rough chopped garlic, process, add pine nuts, pulse several times. Slowly add the olive oils and lemon juice, process until everything is broken down. It will never be real smooth. Finally add the cheese and pulse a few times. Season with salt and pepper. If serving with pasta grate a little extra cheese over and add EVOO to the hot pasta, toss with pesto, serve with additional grated cheese.
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These are the basics of my recipe and the way that I prefer it, but you can add more garlic, lemon, or oil if you like.
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6 Comments on Kale Pesto

jblock added 4 months ago

Really, really, REALLY good.

ibbeachnana added 4 months ago

Too funny, just copied my recipe contributions and made note to make some for company this week.

Thanks and I did end up toasting the pine nuts

ibbeachnana added 6 months ago

I also toast the pine nuts, but still blanch the kale as most of it this time of year is so bitter and I prefer the mild flavor. I'm looking to add the remaining pesto to a soup this week.

ibbeachnana added 8 months ago

The best reason for blanching and cooling for me is to maintain the bright green color for the pesto, but way too often around here the kale and other greens for that matter are just too bitter and blanching helps, actually just enough time for the whole batch under boiling water is enough time. I am so sorry not to mention toasting the pine nuts.