I always struggle to find ways to incorporate Kale into my diet. There’s only so much Kale salad and kale chips and smoothies you could have and I’ve never really been blown away to be honest. I’ve always ingested it as a sort of ‘vitamin dose’, like you would with a pill. The leaves are so robust, you could wash your car with them! The curly leaves would lend themselves well to the task I’m sure. On the other hand, kale pesto is something I could really get into, I thought. Its quick to prepare, is an attractive deep green colour and is intensely flavourful. I could just taste the fruity olive oil, cheese and garlic now. You could use it in different dishes other than pasta. Mix it in with mayo or butter to add some kick or serve it as a little sauce with meat, fish or brush over grilled vegetables. This weekend, we enjoyed it with soft, pillowy gnocchi. I only had EMMA gluten-free gnocchi in my pantry and they were really great!
So why has Kale been crowned? Well, it may just be the king of super-foods! It fights and helps to prevent all sorts of cancers and auto-immune disorders. Its high in fibre, folate, has more iron per calorie than steak, its bursting with vitamins C, K and A, is an anti-inflammatory and I could seriously go on for days.
Kale Pesto – The King of Pestos
Makes 4-6 servings
INGREDIENTS
1 medium bunch (about 8 stalks) kale
1/4 cup pine nuts (I’m sure you can sub with walnuts if you don’t like pine nuts)
1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (I used Pecorino Romano )
3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped (3 if small, 2 if large)
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon fresh black pepper
1/2 cup olive oil
DIRECTIONS
Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
Remove the leaves from the stems of the kale by pulling your fingers down and along the stem. Discard the stems.
Set a sieve over a bowl. Blanch the kale leaves in the boiling water for about 15 seconds then transfer them to the sieve to drain. Once the leaves have cooled slightly, squeeze them
into a ball to release as much water as possible.
Toast the pine nuts in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until golden brown and fragrant, 5 to 7 minutes. (Pine nuts burn quickly so watch them carefully.)
Add the drained kale, toasted pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, chopped garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper to a blender. Blend the ingredients for 10 to 15 seconds, then with the blender still running, slowly stream in the olive oil until it’s fully incorporated and the mixture is well-blended.
Transfer the pesto to a bowl and season it with salt and pepper to taste. Toss the pesto with gnocchi or serve with chicken, seafood, steak or vegetables.
Enjoy!
18 responses to “Kale Pesto – The King of Pestos”
Ahh, had this for lunch today – it was so fragrant!
Thank you Bianca! Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
I love pesto! I haven’t tried making it with kale yet, I will definitely have to give this a shot.
Hello Julia,
Thank you for writing.
Its very delicious. I hope you like it.
Stephanie M
Vanillabeanonline.wordpress.com
Yum! Pesto is one of my favorite sauces and I love the idea of using Kale in a pesto 🙂 Delicious and I can’t wait to try this.
Hello there!
Thank you for writing. I love pesto too and thought it was a great way to get more Kale into my diet. I hope you like it.
Stephanie M.
Vanillabeanonline.wordpress.com
Ive never seen a kale pesto recipe before! I love pesto, this is a great way to sneak in more kale. Thanks for sharing at ‘Tell em Tuesday’!
xoxo K
http://peeledwellness.com
Hello,
Yes, its a great way to sneak in more Kale 🙂
I love ‘tell em Tuesday’.
Thanks for writing
Stephanie M
Vanillabeanonline.wordpress.com
I’ve never made pesto with kale but it is definitely on my list now!
Hi!
I try to make some every 2-3 weeks. Also, you can freeze the pesto for a later use and it turns out great.
Thank you for writing & feel free to give me any feedback.
Stephanie M
Vanillabeanonline.wordpress.com
I made a ton of pesto in the fall and still have some in the freezer but I used basil from the garden, and we had tons of kale too, I had no idea it would make a good pesto. This year, tons and tons of pesto haha!
Great! I hope you enjoy it 🙂 Let me know what you think!
Yum! This looks so delicious – pesto is the best, but I’ve never tried it with kale!
Hello,
It IS really good. I hope you like it.
Please feel free to give me some feedback.
Stephanie M
Vanillabeanonline.wordpress.com
I love pesto but never tried with kale. I do throw in anything green mind you – from peas, to spinach to broccoli and basil! I really like your blog. I too love the Linkup it forces me to have a look around and find sites like yours. Take a look over at my blog when time allows if you can, I know you’re busy x
Hello!
Thank you very much. That made my day 🙂
I would love to check out your blog.
I hope you enjoy this recipe and please get back to me with any comments.
Have a wonderful day
Stephanie M
Vanillabeanonline.wordpress.com
I’ve also successfully subbed cashews in place of pine nuts for pesto. This looks great!
BreAnna | Crafty Coin
Real Food on a Real Budget
I love cashews. I will try that out!