Today, recipe for a sauce: kale pesto.
Great for dressing a good plate of pasta and thus obtaining a creamy and tasty first course, an autumn pesto that will win you over like basil pesto in the summer. Easy and quick to prepare, it will save you during last-minute dinners.
Kale is a vegetable with high amounts of water and potassium, rich in minerals and vitamins with antioxidant properties, considered a great ally for our health.
It is characterized by dark green and curly leaves, its flavor tends to be bitter but I assure you, if cooked well, you won’t notice it. Its flavor often causes it to be overlooked but in reality, it can be consumed in many ways such as this pesto dressed with olive oil and enhanced with nuts but also for making delicious soups, stews, or gnocchi. Even the stems discarded in some recipes can be used to prepare a great dish with egg stracciatella.
Kale is produced and cooked in central and southern regions, especially in Tuscany and Campania, and is quite well-known abroad where it is used in winter to prepare delicious soups.
Let’s see step by step how to make this recipe.
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- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Boiling
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter
Ingredients for kale pesto
- 3.5 oz kale (cleaned (7 oz with stems))
- 1/2 clove garlic
- 1.5 tsp olive oil
- 1 tsp grated Parmesan
- 0.5 oz walnuts (shelled)
- to taste fine salt
- to taste chili pepper (optional)
Tools
- 1 Pot
- 1 Immersion Blender
Let’s Start!
Take the kale leaves and clean them by separating the leaf from the central part of the stems (remember not to throw them away because they can be used). This operation is very simple because the dark green part detaches easily. Then wash the leaves and drain them.
In a pot, put the water and bring it to a boil, then immerse the kale leaves and blanch them for 4 minutes. Once the necessary time has passed, drain them into a bowl and let them cool slightly.
In a container suitable for an immersion blender, pour the blanched and drained kale and add the olive oil, grated Parmesan, garlic clove, salt, and walnuts. If you want, you can add a pinch of chili pepper. At this point, blend everything with an immersion blender moving it up and down until you get a smooth cream. If the sauce turns out too thick, you can add a little bit of the kale cooking water.
Una Riccia recommends
Kale pesto keeps in the fridge for a couple of days in a closed container, while you can freeze it and store it for two to three months, then take it out and thaw it when you need it.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
What can I substitute for Parmesan?
You can substitute grated Parmigiano Reggiano with excellent Tuscan pecorino.
