Cavolo Nero Pesto (Tuscan Kale Pesto)
It’s no secret I love to make pasta, and you can make a sauce with just about anything you have on hand. This week I wanted to talk a little bit about pesto.
When you hear the word pesto, almost certainly you will think of the Summery, Ligurian classic Pesto Genovese that is made with basil, pine nuts, garlic, and grated cheese. It’s REALLY good, but as we eat seasonally here it’s something we enjoy when basil is in season. Basil is a warm-weather herb and can be such a nice addition to bruschetta, simple tomato sauces, or even in a panini. Did you know that there are other pestos? You can make pesto with just about any green, radicchio, tomatoes (fresh, cooked or sun-dried), with walnuts and soaked bread in milk, I can go on and on with the variety of pestos we have in Italy that are not so famous.
You can apply this concept of making a pesto with your local ingredients. The ingredients needed are some kind of green or blendable veggie, nuts that pair well with those veggies, garlic, and grated cheese. Some liquid or EVOO would be needed to help along with the blending as needed, but aside from that, you can use your imagination or fantasia as we say here to create different types of pestos. The end consistency should be thick like a paste. The pesto can be put on pasta, uncooked, and thinned out with the pasta cooking water to create a shiny sauce that coats your pasta. It’s also great as a spread in a sandwich, or as a quadrant in that tortilla wrap craze which I’ve become obsessed with.
I’m sharing my recipe for Winter Pesto or Tuscan Pesto that is made with Cavolo Nero. In your local markets, you’d be looking for Tuscan Kale or Dino Kale if you’d like to give it a try!
Let me know how you like this Winter Pesto and tag me when you post on IG @thedolcevitaexperience
#neverboring #thedolcevitaexperience
Cavolo Nero Pesto (Tuscan Kale Pesto)
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1 bunch (300 gms or 11 oz) Cavolo Nero (Also known as Tuscan Kale or Dino Kale)
1 clove of garlic (you can add more according to taste or if the cloves are super small)
¼ cup (20 gms) walnuts
1 ½ cups (30 gms) grated Tuscan pecorino
Salt to taste
EVOO
Method:
De-stem your kale, and wash really well. Place water to boil, and when the water is at a boil add about ½ a tablespoon of salt. Once the salt dissolves, cook the kale for about 6 minutes. The salted water helps highlight the green color of the Cavolo Nero, and is typically how you would cook any green veggies to naturally enhance the color. Cavolo Nero or kale is very fibrous. Cooking the kale slightly allows the fibers to break down a bit to be able to blend, otherwise, it would be very stringy if you tried to
Once the kale is cooked, drain well and add to a blending cup or to your blender. Blend for a few seconds, then add the walnuts and garlic. Blend well, then add the pecorino. Blend for a few seconds and taste. At this point add salt as needed, and if you feel you want more garlic or cheese added personalize to taste. In the end, you want a thick pesto, where you taste the intense bitter green of the kale, a kick of the garlic, the slight bitter nuttiness of walnuts, and the saltiness of the pecorino. Place the pesto in a jar, and cover with EVOO. Place a lid over it and will last in the fridge for 3-5 days. The EVOO helps prevent oxidation of the green pesto.
Serve with your favorite pasta or as a spread in a sandwich. If using for pasta, pesto is a no-cook sauce. You would boil your pasta, drain and add to a bowl or pan. Add the pesto to the pasta and a splash of the pasta cooking water as needed to thin out the pesto and marry it to the pasta with the cooking water.
If you have any leftover pesto, simply place it in a container and cover with EVOO to prevent oxidation. Leave the container refrigerated, and this way it will be preserved for a few days. Enjoy the Fall/Wintery flavors of this Tuscan Kale Pesto!
