Kale, Basil & Walnut Pesto
This fragrant and flavourful pesto is a great way to use up some up the kale and basil in your garden. Even my husband, who claims that he "doesn't like pesto," loves this recipe and has been putting it on everything from sandwiches to potatoes!
The recipe below makes a big batch, so feel free to freeze some to have fresh pesto all year long.Unfortunately, before I was able to harvest my kale for this recipe, the deer came along and ate it ALL (shaking my fist, angrily in the air.) Luckily, I have a gardener for mother who generously donated some of hers.I prefer t to use baby kale so I can use the whole thing, but if you're using "adult" kale from the grocery store, just use the leaves and not the stem.Substituting walnuts for pine nuts was also a great substitution that I'd do again (and it doesn't hurt that walnuts are half the price!) Also, instead of traditional parmesan, I used asiago which gave this pesto some great flavour! But feel free to what you like or have on hand :)Aside from being a perfect pasta sauce, this Kale, Basil & Walnut pesto is great on pizza, as a sandwich spread, tossed over potatoes or mixed into hollandaise for Green Eggs and Ham!
- 6 cups Kale
- 4-5 cups Basil
- 1 1/2 cups Walnuts
- 6 cloves Garlic
- 2 cups Asiago Cheese (or Parmesan)
- 2 tbsp Lemon Juice, fresh (juice from about 1/2 a lemon)
- 1 cup Olive Oil (plus more for thinning out)
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- Combine all of the ingredients in a food processor, and pulse until the pesto is a creamy texture. Add more olive oil if it looks too thick.
- Transfer a portion to small jars to freeze for later.
- Will last up to a week in the fridge.