Pesto Using Kale Stems

I do buy kale regularly and usually consume the leaves but end up throwing away the stems in the compost bin.  Recently I came across this awesome recipe for a pesto sauce using kale stems.  I wanted to make this but I didn't have half the ingredients listed.  With this covid-19 lockdown I was in no mood to go out and find the ingredients.  So I just made with only the ingredients I had in my pantry.  It turned out amazingly delicious and felt like it was made in a restaurant or even better...


Ingredients:

Kale stems chopped - 200g (stems from 1 bundle of kale)
Olive oil - 4 tsp
Garlic - 1 clove
Salt to taste
Pepper
tomato paste or fresh tomato - 42 grams (approx 1 tbsp of tomato paste)
Roasted almonds - 1/4 cup
Roasted cashews - 1/4 cup
Oregano - 1 1/2 tsp
Apple cider vinegar - 1/8 cup
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Olive oil - 3/4 cup

Preheat oven to 425 F.  

In the meanwhile chop kale stems to about 1 to 2 inch pieces. Bring water to a boil and put the stems in for 3 minutes.  Remove them from water and toss them with 4 tsp of olive oil, salt and pepper and also 1 clove of garlic crushed or squeezed out of a garlic press.

Put the stems in a baking tray and bake for about 20 minutes.  

In a food processor combine the baked kale stems, tomato paste, roasted nuts, oregano, vinegar, 1/2 tsp of salt, sugar and 3/4 cup of olive oil.  Also add about 1/4 cup of water or the kale stock (the water used for boiling the stems) or pasta water.  Grind to almost a smooth paste. This should take about a couple of minutes.  

The quantity of sauce made using this recipe is enough for 500g of pasta. 

Cook required amount of pasta.  To this add the required amount of prepared sauce and chilli flakes. Sprinkle some more salt if needed.  Transfer this to bowls and serve.

I would also enjoy this with a glass of red wine.



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