Kale / Pistachio Pesto

Crunchy, herby, tasty.

I bought too many pistachios a very long time ago for some recipe. The remainder have been sitting in my freezer ever since. An unknown number of months and one move later, I decided it was time to find another pistachio recipe. I landed on this Food Network recipe for pesto with kale and pistachios.

I pretty much followed the recipe except for increasing the amount of garlic. One clove of garlic in a pesto recipe? Blasphemy.

If I weren't spoiled by the creamy, delicious wonder that is Spinach/Avocado Pesto, I would probably make this my new go-to pesto recipe. But alas, that one's still better. And now that I'm used to avocado pesto, this one was just so un-creamy in comparison. It's kind of clumpy and has a little bit of crunch. The kale doesn't get melty the way basil and spinach do, and then you add pistachios into the mix, and it's less creamy even than your standard non-avocado pestos.

Was there life before food processors? I love mine.

As a result, I think this pesto would be fabulous on meat. Maybe serve a dollop on some chicken or steak? Or put it in a sandwich? I don't think I'll repeat this recipe on pasta, but it's surely a keeper for other uses.

Don't skip the parsley... this really tied the flavors together and gave it punch. I was surprised at how deliciously the flavors work together here.

The Recipe:

1 bunch kale, stemmed

3 tb roasted, salted pistachios

4 cloves garlic

1 c flat-leaf parsley

1/4 c extra-virgin olive oil

2 tb parmesan

1 tb lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

Steam the kale and roughly chop it
Put all ingredients except olive oil and parmesan in food processor and finely chop it together
With the food processor running, drizzle in olive oil until it reaches the desired consistency
Add the parmesan and pulse until combined

The Verdict:

Overall grade: B+

Overall reason: Outstanding flavor but I wanted it to be creamier for pasta

Time to prepare: 15 minutes

Husband quote: "This tastes really good but I like the texture of the other one better." (He said this before I told him what I thought. It's unanimous.)

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