Kale Pesto
Kale Pesto – Your First Taste of Summer
I still have three feet of snow in my
front yard, and we've had snow flurries almost every day for the past week.
I'm pretty sure the fresh asparagus I've
seen in the grocery store is the closest I'll see of spring. But my body is
craving the bright and dark leafy greens of summer.
Until I figure out how to grow a
hydroponic indoor garden, as my friend Tara suggested, or until the farmer's
market opens in June of July? I'll have to make due with the greens I find at
City Market.
When I think of summer I think of
gazpacho made from unsweetened tomatoes or in the case of today's column, I
think of pesto.
I love pesto because of the powerful
punch it packs in flavor. I also love its versatility.
I can toss it with pasta and serve it by
itself or with shrimp and I've got a quick and easy dinner.
I can slather a filet of fish with pesto
to add richness to an otherwise bland fish.
Or I can add more olive oil and serve it
on the side of a steak as a close approximation of chimichurri sauce.
Need to give your soup a kick?
Add a dollop of pesto and it becomes
pistou! Suddenly your familiar minestrone, sausage and white bean, or turkey
and kale soup become an culinary adventure to Provence.
The beauty of this recipe is that it can
be made in 3 minutes in the bowl of your food processor and it stores well in a
jar in the refrigerator.
What makes it perfect for every palette
is that depending on the greens you choose, you can end up with the peppery
hotness from arugula, the mild sweetness from baby spinach, or the rustic
richness that comes from using kale, as I did today.
Watch this quick video
demonstration (you can find more cooking videos on my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/SuzanneElizabeths)
Or, scroll down to the recipe below.
Then head to the kitchen and make your
own!
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Basic Pesto Recipe:
1 large bunch of your favorite greens:
kale, spinach, arugula, or a combination
3 cloves of garlic, skins removed
1/2 cup of your favorite nuts: pine
nuts, walnuts, almonds, pecans
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt such as
kosher or Maldon salt
3-4 Tablespoons of olive oil
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan
Directions:
1. Chop the large stalks off the bottoms
of the greens. Then chop the greens into large pieces
2. Add the garlic, the greens, the nuts,
salt, and pulse the until well chopped. Gradually add the olive oil until you
reach the consistency you want. Add the parmesan and combine.
3. Store the pesto in a jar, with the
top covered with oil, in the refrigerator.
This Week's Book Recommendation:
My Pantry: Homemade Ingredients that
Make Simple Meals Your Own
by Alice Waters
"When I come back home from a trip,
one of the first things I need to do is walk into my kitchen and look around. It
always makes me feel better when I know exactly where I am. First I see, next
to the stove, the old Middle Easter copper tray, and on it the glass cruet of
vinegar, and the pepper mill and friendly little bowls of salt mixtures and
chile flakes; and I open the cupboard, and spot the pasta and lentils and
beans, and look up and see a beautiful row of jars of homemade preserved
tomatoes alternating with jars of apricots sparkling in syrup."
Those are opening sentences from Alice
Waters', sure to be a classic in culinary literature, MY PANTRY. I am so in
love with this book. My heart was captured from the opening sentences and
within 30 minutes of flipping through the pages, I was in the kitchen,
following her recipe for Roasted Eggplant Caponata.
Heaven.
If you are a beginner in the kitchen or
an experienced cook, you will treasure the timeless wisdom of this small book.
The essential recipes you need to create a working pantry and the foundation
recipes to build your culinary repertoire are here: chicken stock, white bean
crostini, make your own ricotta cheese, or create a variety of sweet preserves.
The pages are also filled with whimsical illustrations by Fanny Singer, Alice
Waters' daughter.
Run, don't walk, to The Next Page
bookstore in Frisco, to order your copy!
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