'Pesto' made from seasonal veg not herbs?

Gingham_Ribbon · 30 March 2007 at 3:48PM

We've just had pasta with kale pesto and I must admit, I totally loved it. It was very different to basil pesto. It was crunchier and less sweet - but had a deeper flavour that was a hit in here!

I used kale, pine nuts, garlic, nutmeg, sunflower oil, single cream and 'parmesan'. I wilted the kale in oil with garlic before blitzing it all.

Has anyone else got good ideas for making pesto type sauce with seasonal veg?

katmad99 · 30 March 2007 at 3:53PM

great recipe, might try that one soon. no idea what else would work tho!

thriftlady_2 · 30 March 2007 at 3:54PM

I did it with broccoli once Gingham which I thought was very good, didn't fool OH though :rolleyes: (I'm always trying to disguise broccoli so he'll eat it).

What I'd like is recipes for pesto without the pinenuts as dd is allergic to them. I know you can use almonds and walnuts, she's alright with those -must give it a go.

I think rocket or watercress pesto would be good too.

katmad99 · 30 March 2007 at 3:57PM

would spinach work??

Gingham_Ribbon · 30 March 2007 at 4:02PM

I'll try spinach next time I get some in my veg bag, kat. LOL I love the broccoli idea. It's very sweet so should be very tasty (unless you don't like broccoli!)

I was looking through some old threads for ideas and noticed someone had used sunflower seeds instead of pine nuts in one of the recipes so I'm going to try that too for variation. I've got some purple sprouting broccoli in the fridge. I'm tempted to try that too.

Gingham_Ribbon · 30 March 2007 at 4:07PM

http://http://vegbox-recipes.co.uk/recipes/kale-recipe-1.php

This recipe is very similar to the one that came with the veg box for anyone who wants to make the kale one. And it says you can use spinach or swich chard instead of kale. Bingo!

thriftlady_2 · 30 March 2007 at 4:14PM

Gingham_Ribbon wrote: »

I was looking through some old threads for ideas and noticed someone had used sunflower seeds instead of pine nuts in one of the recipes so I'm going to try that too for variation. I've got some purple sprouting broccoli in the fridge. I'm tempted to try that too.

Oh, now that's an idea -no nuts at all is best for dd and I have loads of sunflower seeds - cheaper than nuts too :T

What about pea pesto, or broad bean ?, or with sundried tomatoes ?

Quasar · 30 March 2007 at 4:19PM

Try it with dandelion greens, or beet greens.

But don't try it with parsley because an excess of this herb is not that good for the body (or so I was told by my ma and grandma).

Gingham_Ribbon · 30 March 2007 at 4:39PM

I will be making more soon. I'll experiment with tahini instead of pine nuts and cream. It'll have a different texture (obviously) and I think I'll leave out the nutmeg as the tahini we have is organic and quite strongly flavoured.

katmad99 · 30 March 2007 at 4:52PM

Gingham, this topic has really interested/inspired me....do you make it in a blender?

Gingham_Ribbon · 30 March 2007 at 5:04PM

Well, it's all new to me but today I used my food mixer. I have a blender and food processor thingie like this I use the food processor bit for making hummous so I used that to make the pesto. I dont' think the blender would handle it unless there was a lot of liquid. To be honest, I use my hand blender for most things rather than the big one. (Just because it's a pain to drag out and set up - we are very short of worktop space.)

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'Pesto' made from seasonal veg not herbs?

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