Kale Pesto
Why I Love This Recipe
FEATURING: Kale (and/or kohlrabi leaves and/or other leafy greens) and garlic (or garlic scapes). OPTIONAL: Tomatoes, green onions (or onion) and basil.
Here is an easy (and quick) recipe our kids love. If we have basil, we add a few leaves in. We also like to serve the pasta and pesto with a few chopped tomatoes mixed with onions (or green onions), salt, lime juice and basil for colour and contrast. And if we have time, we also serve it with a side salad of whatever we have at hand (ex: brocoli and kohlrabi with mustard-mayo dressing- when we do, we often add a few kohlrabi leaves to the pesto).
Ingredients You'll Need
2 to 3 cloves garlic, peeled (or 2-3 garlic scapes, chopped)
4 cups packed kale (about 4-6 kale leaves)
2 tablespoons lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
¾ teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
¼ teaspoon ground pepper
¼ cup oil (ex: sunflower oil, olive oil, etc.)
¼ cup of water or more, as needed
Entirely optional:
A few basil leaves (for the pesto or for serving)
A few tablespoons of homemade salsa, for serving: 1-2 tomatoes (chopped) with 2 green onions (chopped), 4-5 basil leaves, 1 tips of lime juice and salt, to taste
Red pepper flakes, optional (if you want to add some kick)
Up to 3/4 cups of nuts of your choice- I just rarely do to make sure that the kids can bring leftovers to school!
Pasta
700 g of pasta of your choice, like linguine
Directions
Make the pesto: In a food processor, add the peeled garlic cloves and process until the garlic is minced. Add the kale, nuts (if using), lemon juice, salt and pepper. Turn on the food processor and drizzle in the oil. Add water, a bit at a time, as needed. Process until the pesto reaches your desired consistency, stopping to scrape down the sides as necessary. Taste and add more lemon, salt or pepper if necessary. (You can thin out the pesto with more oil or water.)
Cook the pasta (optional): Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, according to package directions. Let the pasta cool for a minute to make sure the high heat doesn’t damage the oil pesto.
You can keep the pesto in a jar in a fridge for a couple of days or you can freeze it in ice cube trays (just put a bit of oil on top of each cube before freezing so it keeps longer).
