I know. It doesn’t sound particularly appetizing, but trust me. This is delicious. We keep basil in the garden and pesto in the fridge during most of the summer season. By now (early Spring), we are ready, but the Basil is not.
When my friend, business partner, and the managing editor of our magazine, Relevant Times shared this recipe with me, I was skeptical too. I’ve learned to trust Green Diva Jen’s (AKA Jenifer O’Neill) recipes. She is not only a WiseWoman herbalist, she is an amazing natural foods and Macrobiotic chef.
Ingredients
2 cups raw kale
1 cup pine nuts
1 cup olive oil
1 cup Romano cheese, grated
4 cloves garlic peeled & chopped
salt & freshly group pepper to taste
Directions
Rinse and pat dry kale. Combine the kale, garlic and pine nuts in the bowl of a food processor. While motor is still running, add the olive oil in a slow, steady stream. Shut the motor off. Add cheese, big pinch of salt and liberal grinding of pepper. Process briefly to combine. Then transfer to a bowl and cover to ready to use.
Keeps well in glass jar or bowl with a layer of olive oil poured over the top. You can also freeze in ice cube tray and transfer cubes to container when frozen and defrost as needed.
Makes 2 cups – enough to sauce 2 lbs. of pasta.
Try it!
millie
hey, thanks for this recipe! i love pesto, but i really thought it was a basil-only kind of thing. how silly of me. i actually didn’t have any kale around, but i did have a ton on spinach so i used that. delicious! looking forward to trying it with kale, too! thanks again!
jenn
how much olive oil?
Green Diva meg
APOLOGIES!!!!!
1 cup Olive Oil!
eeeeek. How embarassing.
;)
Megan McWilliams
PS
I’ve updated original recipe. phew! thanks for paying attention – I guess you really want to try this recipe!
Basil Bounty Makes Perfect Simple Pesto Recipe : Eat. Drink. Better.
[…] for making pesto at home. You can also substitute mint for the basil, or arugula, cilantro, or kale; basically, any leaf herb will do, although for my money, you can’t go wrong with the […]