by Karen Soo, Newsletter Editor

Its summer time and my friends in the neighborhood are showing off their summer garden. They’re growing tomatoes, mesclun greens, zucchinis, cucumbers, banana peppers and kale. My friend Connie gives me a weekly bag of organic home-grown veggies. This is perfect for me since I eat a huge salad for dinner. I call it my go to “rabbit food”.

This week she gave me a bag of dinosaur kale. YUMS. Once they are cleaned, I use them for my smoothies. For this batch, I will used them to make Kale Pesto. We are so use to making our own basil pesto if we can find basil or we get that jar of Pesto sold at Costco.


This Kale Pesto is made with just kale. Without the basil, it’s a more cost-effective way to make pesto. It’s also one that you can enjoy all year round, when basil isn’t as plentiful in the supermarket (or garden). 

Enjoy!

Bon Appetit – Julia Child and Karen Soo share the same birthday.

Total Preparation time: 15 minutes

Servings: One pound of your favorite pasta

Ingredients

  • 8 cloves garlic (peeled, ends trimmed)
  • 1/4 cup pine nuts or walnuts
  • 1/2 cup parmesan cheese (plus more for topping)
  • Juice of 1/2 a lemon (if you’d like it extra lemony, use the whole lemon)
  • 1 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 10 packed cups curly kale (about 8-9 ounces/225-250 g)
  • 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • Red pepper flakes

Directions

  1. Set a large pot of salt water to boil on the stove for the pasta.
  • To the bowl of a food processor, add the garlic, pine nuts, parmesan, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and the kale. Depending on the size of your food processor, you may need to make this in multiple batches or add the kale in a handful at a time.
  • With the food processor running, slowly pour the olive oil through the feed tube. The pesto should come together relatively quickly, but let the food processor run for 1-2 minutes to make sure everything is thoroughly pulverized.
  • By now, your water should be boiling. Cook your pasta according to the package instructions. When the cooking time is almost complete, reserve 1 cup of pasta cooking water in a heatproof measuring cup. Drain the pasta, and transfer to a large skillet over medium-low heat.
  • Add half of the pesto (you’ll have the remainder to freeze for another day!). Stir the pesto into the pasta, adding a little pasta water as you go to make a silky, “creamy” sauce.
  • Sprinkle the pasta with grated parmesan and some Aleppo chili flakes. You can also top with some zest from that lemon you juiced for the pesto, if desired. Serve!

TIPS & NOTES:

Note: Recipe makes about 2 1/2 cups pesto. Use half for 1 pound pasta, and freeze the remainder (about 1 1/4 cup) for another day!

To freeze, transfer to a pint container, pour a thin layer of olive oil over the top, cover, and freeze.