I am starting to believe that the answer to all greens is pesto. Tonight, I started with a bunch of kale.
I washed it and removed the stems.
Then I blanched the kale for two minutes in boiling water.
After draining, I sat the strainer back in the pan to continue draining. I ended up using some of this water to thin the pesto, instead of using pasta water, keeping more of the kale flavor.
I toasted about a 1/4 cup of walnuts, maybe a bit more, on the stove.
Then put the kale, walnuts, a bit of salt, the bit of kale water from the pan, and some parmesan into the food processor, blending well. I've used up all of my green garlic from this week and last week, so didn't have any to add to the pesto. That said, I don't think the pesto really needed garlic.
Husband, normally not a fan of kale, enjoyed the pesto. I think the walnuts were a good pairing with the kale, giving it a bit of sweetness that I don't think other nuts would have provided. I will definitely make this again, particularly as we start to get more kale each week. I like kale in salads as well as kale chips, but the pesto is now my favorite kale preparation.
This was tasty! I had to add in some pasta water because there was very little kale water left over, and also drizzled in some olive oil. Definitely a good way to use up the whole bunch in one go. Next time maybe I'll try the pistachio version.
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