Kale Pesto

Kale has flown well under the radar for quite some time now, not really making waves or getting much face time in the American consciousness. Not until home gardening and the desire for local or home grown food started to take off the last couple of years. Rooftop gardeners and backyard horticulturists quickly came to discover Kale as one of the most nutritional, easy to grow super-foods on earth. Its harder to grow weeds than to grow Kale, which actually thrives when it gets a touch of frost. A terrific winter food, Kale brings so many nutrients that in WWII Kale was pushed hard as a way to make up for nutrients otherwise lost to rationing. In fact, during this time the British had a warship named the HMS Kale, named after none other than the River Kale in Scotland that may or may not have anything to do with the plant. This is Eric trying to come up with some completely trivial, utterly useless fact and falling flat on his face but now you know something new about a boat that got sunk and has nothing to do with the most amazing pesto we've ever made. Thats right, the most amazing. Usually, pesto is pesto is pesto. Sometimes it comes out extra special, sometimes it doesn't come out quite right but most of the time its tasty and expected. This one though, not only stood out, but brought us back for thirds. Ok fourths. Okay, we licked our bowls THEN licked the pots. Don't tell anyone though ok? 

Printable Recipe

Kale Pesto

What You Will Need

1 Bunch of dinosaur kale

2 cloves garlic

a handful of basil leaves

2 Tbs pine nuts

3 Tbs of extra virgin olive oil

a small chunk of Parmesan cheese

1 lb pasta cooked al dente

Goat cheese to sprinkle on top

Start by removing the hard vein of the kale from the middle of the leaf,  leaving just the greens. For this recipe you are going to flash steam the kale to soften it a bit. We used a steaming basket over a couple of inches of boiling water. Cover and steam until leaves have wilted just a bit and are bright green in color. Drain and let it cool a bit. 

In a food processor, pulse the kale, garlic, pine nuts, cheese and basil together. Slowly drizzle the olive oil in while the food processor is going to really incorporate it in and bring everything together. Once the pasta is cooked, drain and toss with the pesto, crumble some goat cheese on top and sprinkle with parmesan!