Have you ever bought a bag of kale, fully with the intention to use it. However, it gets abandoned in the fridge, and then you feel bad whenever you see it? I am guilty of this, and I loathe wasting food, so this kale pesto recipe came about from one of those times. When the kale absolutely HAD to be used, and ideally all in one go. So this recipe was born. The kale was not wasted, and I got a recipe out of it too, win win
Serves; Six, this makes 300g pesto Cook time; five minutes
You’ll need;
- One 180g bag of curly kale, with the woody stems removed
- 30g dairy-free parmesan style cheese
- 40g pine nuts
- Two teaspoons of dried basil
- Two cloves of garlic, minced
- Two tablespoons of oil
- One tablespoon of nutritional yeast
- 50ml cold water
- One tablespoon of lemon juice
- Salt to taste
Method;
- Begin by bringing a large pan of water to a boil. Add in the kale and then blanch for four minutes
- After four minutes, drain away all the water from the kale and rinse it with cold water to stop the cooking process
- Add the kale along with everything else listed above into a blender or food processor. Add salt and black pepper to taste, and then blend to your desired consistency. Some people like a smoother kale pesto, while others prefer a more rustic less smooth pesto, so do whichever you personally prefer
- Once it’s done, store it in an airtight container in the fridge. Then it’s ready to stir it through pasta, spread it onto sandwiches, or use in place of pizza sauce
Storing your Kale Pesto
This is something I do to ensure that the pesto doesn’t go off before I have a chance to use it. Spoon the kale pesto into an ice cube tray, then pop it into the freezer. This way, whenever you want some pesto you can simply defrost a few cubes at a time. No more pesto being left to go mouldy, I hate it when that happens. If you need to use the ice tray, simply remove the pesto from the tray and store it in an air tight container
I love stirring some pesto through pasta, this was some spiral pasta that I stirred some pesto through. It’s a simple meal but it’s super quick and convenient when you are low on time and want something fast. You can serve this as it is, or along with a mock chicken fillet, sausages or tofu steaks
If you’d like some inspiration for how to use your pesto, try out this recipe for Vegan Chicken and Tomato Pesto Pasta Salad. The pesto makes for an excellent dressing and it will definitely brighten up your lunchtime
