Kale is one of winter's staple greens. It's packed full of nutrients and available in abundance but, well, there's only so many times you can eat steamed greens before they get a bit dull and Kale, with it's distinctive earthy flavour is not one of my favourites.
We have been getting rather a lot of kale in our veggie box lately and trying to find things to do with it has become a bit of a mission! Thankfully it freezes well - just bag it up and pop it in the freezer to use at a later date. I have found a wealth of interesting things to do with kale on the internet and I thought it might be an idea to actually TRY some of them . . .
Pesto is something I love to have in the fridge because you can use it so many ways. Add a spoonful to soups for extra flavour; spread it on crusty bread, add some cherry tomatoes and top with a bit of mozzarella and place under the grill for a lovely lunch. Or you could just stir it into some warm pasta for a simple supper.
There are several different versions of Kale Pesto out there, some of them more a traditional pesto than others. Here's my take using toasted walnuts instead of the usual pine nuts
KALE PESTO
bunch of kale (approx 150g)
clove of garlic, crushed
juice of 1 lemon
2 1/2 oz / 60g walnuts
1/2tsp salt
2tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
4tbsp olive oil
First you need to toast your walnuts - spread them out on a baking tray and put them in a hot oven 200C/GAS6 for 5-10mins until they are lightly browned.
Add all the ingredients, including the toasted nuts to your blender/processor and blitz until reduced to a paste. You can add a little more oil if you want or a splash of water for a looser paste.Stir into warm pasta or rice and enjoy!
Kale pesto will keep in the fridge
for a few days in an airtight container or freeze it in an ice cube tray for individual flavour
hits for soups and stews!
There are lots more recipes with kale on my 'Veggie Box Recipes' pinterest board here. I suspect there may be a few more weeks of kale in the box to come so I hope to try out some more - although maybe NOT the kale smoothie . . . *shudders*
Will it work with spinach that I have in the freezer?
ReplyDeleteI don't see why not! You could probably use any greens. I bet rocket would be good too.
DeleteWonders if I can persuade hubby to give this a go. He doesn't like nuts, but he will eat pesto made with pine nuts. Of course, if they are all whizzed up and I don't say they are there, perhaps he won't notice. It does sound very nice.
ReplyDelete