Have you ever tried making celery leaves pesto?
If you are a fan of culinary experiments like me, if the idea of throwing away beautiful and fresh celery leaves bothers you as much as it bothers me, well, then you’ve found the recipe for you. Just like me. 😊
I’ve always been somewhat annoyed by seeing celery leaves end up in the trash. And knowing they end up in the organic bin rather than the non-recyclable waste never lessened my annoyance.
Then yes, it’s true that the smaller and lighter leaves are left on the stalk and eaten, in salads or dipped in dressing. And it’s true that you can sneak a few leaves into salads, and that, for quite some time now, I’ve stopped throwing them away because I started chopping them and adding them to the sofrito for meat sauce or vegetable sauces, just like I do with fennel stems (and no one ever notices 😛) (I talk about fennel stems HERE and also HERE).
But it’s absolutely true that this idea of pesto never really hit me, it took me a while to discover it.
Using celery leaves to make pesto is truly a fantastic idea. Now it has become a regular recipe for me, which I make every time I buy celery, and I can’t even say where it originally came from, maybe a book, maybe from the many recipes online, each made in its own way, just like this recipe of mine, but I’m happy to have discovered it.
My celery leaves pesto isn’t always the same, sometimes I make it with almonds, sometimes with walnuts, sometimes with cheese, and sometimes without.
What I’m showing you today is the latest version, the one I made last time, but I’ll tell you about possible variations later in the procedure.
Are you ready? 🤩
〰 〰 〰
If you’re looking for other alternative pestos, here are three! 👇
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Preparation time: 5 Minutes
- Portions: 2
- Cooking methods: No-cook
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 1.76 oz celery leaves
- 1.06 oz almonds
- 1 tbsp pine nuts
- 1 tbsp sunflower seeds
- 1 clove garlic
- extra virgin olive oil (amount to taste)
- 2 tbsp water
- pepper (or chili pepper)
- basil (optional)
- spreadable cheese (or ricotta or goat cheese, optional)
Tools
- Food Processor
Steps
The preparation of celery leaves pesto is very simple and similar to that of any other pesto:
– Wash the leaves. You can also add some pieces of stalk, especially the ends where the leaves are attached.
– Place all the ingredients in the bowl of the food processor (or a mini food processor).
– Run the processor, adding the oil little by little.
– Blend until the desired consistency is reached.👉 Adding a small amount of water aims to reduce, even if slightly, the total amount of oil. I always do this in all my pestos. I mentioned it for example in my basil pesto.
👉 Regarding the amount of oil, this time I didn’t specify it in the ingredients because lately I’ve taken the habit of using less during the preparation of the pesto, to add it later, if needed, during the tossing of the pasta. It’s always better to add later than to realize the pasta is too oily.
Use:
Briefly heat the celery leaves pesto in a sautée pan, add the just-drained pasta and toss. At this stage, adjust the amount of oil and decide whether to add chili pepper or pepper.
Enjoy your meal!
👉 The addition of pine nuts and sunflower seeds is optional, you can use only pine nuts or only sunflower seeds, or omit them by increasing the almonds: decide based on your tastes and what you have in the pantry. Since I realized every pesto made with sunflower seeds turns out great, I’ve developed the habit of adding them (almost) always. Anyway, every type of pesto can be made with a mix of seeds, enhancing the flavor. And since seeds are healthy… let’s take advantage of these simple recipes to add a little bit of healthy creativity to the kitchen. 😊
👉 To make the celery leaves pesto creamier, you can add a tablespoon or two of spreadable cheese, or ricotta. I’ve also tried it with goat cheese and we liked it a lot, I recommend it.
For those who can’t give up on pesto with parmesan or pecorino, no problem: you can simply replace the basil leaves with celery leaves in your favorite pesto recipe. Or in mine. 😉
Salt-Free Tips
Garlic adds a lot of flavor and for this reason, it’s a valuable ally in low-sodium cooking. Raw seasonings like this pesto or other homemade pestos don’t need salt because garlic and optionally chili pepper do an excellent job as flavor enhancers! 😉
If you are interested in reducing or eliminating salt, always remember to:
▫ Reduce salt gradually, the palate needs to get used to it slowly and shouldn’t notice the progressive reduction.
▫ Use spices. Chili pepper, pepper, curry, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, cumin…
▫ Use aromatic herbs. Basil, parsley, oregano, thyme, sage, marjoram, rosemary, mint…
▫ Use seeds. Sesame, pine nuts, almonds, walnuts…
▫ Use spicy vegetables or fruit. Garlic, onion, lemon, orange…
▫ Use my salt-free vegetable granules and gomasio.
▫ Prefer fresh foods.
▫ Avoid cooking in water, prefer methods that don’t dilute flavors (grilling, baking in foil, steaming, microwaving)
▫ Avoid bringing the salt shaker to the table!
▫ Occasionally indulge in a treat. It’s good for the mood and helps you persevere.
If you don’t want, or can’t, give up salt:
▫ You can still try my recipes salting according to your habits.
Follow Me!
In my new WhatsApp channel and on Instagram, on the Facebook page, in Pinterest and in my two groups: Catia’s group, in the kitchen and beyond and Exactly what I was looking for! and, if you like… subscribe to my Newsletter.
In my new WhatsApp channel and on Instagram, on the Facebook page, in Pinterest and in my two groups: Catia’s group, in the kitchen and beyond and Exactly what I was looking for! and, if you like… subscribe to my Newsletter.
