Kale Pesto

A twist on an old favorite: Kale Pesto with Cherry Tomatoes & Olives.

It’s hard to believe that almost an entire calendar year has passed since my last blog post. A lot has changed since then -- for one thing, tin & I are back on American soil! We have a dog, and a car, and we’re no longer living and sleeping in the same room. But at least one thing has stayed the same -- we’re still enjoying fabulous, fresh vegan dinners every night. Last night, we celebrated our return by inviting our neighbors, Sarah & Dave, over for one of those dinners -- one of my (and tin’s) personal favorites: Kale Pesto.

I must give some credit where credit is due: to all of my loyal readers who’d wondered if I may have suddenly stopped eating, or if I simply couldn’t pay my internet bill anymore, it was Sarah who reminded me that I used to love updating this blog and hearing from all of you about your kitchen adventures! I’m new to the neighborhood, so I was meeting Sarah & Dave last night for the first time. Admitting to her own curiosity, Sarah announced that she had googled me and found my blog! Dave took a picture of our meal and I vowed to write about it.

In my opinion, there’s nothing worse than inviting guests over for an enjoyable evening, and instead spending the entire night in the kitchen. I wanted to make a low-fuss, delicious meal that I could prepare almost entirely ahead of time. I’m a huge fan of pasta, and I’m an even bigger fan of preparing pastas for dinner parties. I’m not talking about a boring plate of spaghetti -- I’m talking about recipes like my spaghetti with the tomato-carrot sauce, or my parsley pesto: subtle variations on classic themes that will make your guests think you’re pretty creative, without being too flashy, or requiring extensive cutting/spooning/napkin usage.

Tin & I have lots of favorite vegetables, but kale is definitely at the top of the list. We eat kale (almost) every week in tons of different ways -- we sauté it, we eat it raw on sandwiches, we make warm salads, we steam it, I’ve even made kale chips in the oven. But one of my greatest creations to-date is kale pesto. It’s a subtle variation on an old favorite that takes advantage of the sturdy, hearty leaves to keep your pasta from getting soggy and limp.

To prepare a kale pesto, I also get to put my favorite kitchen appliance to good use -- a gift from my mother, my Cuisinart food processor is my secret weapon. It can do everything -- which, in turn, makes it look as though I can do everything. I will readily admit that sometimes, I ask myself whether the ease of using the Cuisinart is worth having to clean it up afterward -- but honestly, it takes significantly less time to wash the Cuisinart than it would to chop all of the ingredients for a kale pesto by hand.

So I pulled out the food processor and put in the super-sharp chopping blade. I peeled three cloves of garlic, and added two tablespoons of olive oil, a teaspoon of freshly-ground black pepper, and ½ teaspoon of salt to the food processor and blended until the garlic was almost indiscernible in the oil. As though preparing a traditional pesto, I threw in a handful of fresh basil (about 1/8 cup chopped with a kitchen knife -- stems, flowers, leaves and all). Again, I blended all of the ingredients until they were super-smooth.

I washed a bunch of kale (to amount to about four cups chopped by hand) and stripped the leaves from the stems. I added the leaves slowly to the food processor and added olive oil -- a drizzle at a time -- to ensure that the leaves would blend down into a smooth paste. I blended all of the leaves, then added the stems, broken into 3-inch lengths, and blended again until smooth. When all was said and done, I’d used about ¼ cup of olive oil. Give it a taste -- and add salt & pepper to taste. My finished pesto was thick -- I spooned it out into a bowl, and allowed it to stand on my kitchen counter for about two hours before serving, which meant that all of the flavors had plenty of time to mix and mingle. I used as little oil as possible -- you’ll know you’ve done it right if your pesto sticks together in the bowl (without being a goopy clump, or leaving any big chunks of kale); you’ve added too much oil if it starts to separate -- the oil will starts to rise to the top, and the kale will sink to the bottom. If you didn’t get the ratio quite right, don’t worry -- a little extra olive oil won’t ruin your recipe.

I knew that I wanted to have leftovers, so I boiled two pounds of pasta. This ultimately made about twice as much as I would have needed for a party of four (after a rich appetizer of homemade tortilla chips with salsa & guacamole, and including freshly-baked chai tea cookies for dessert). I like to use spiral-shaped noodles when serving pesto, as pestos tend to be a little less “sticky” than other traditional sauces -- the tight curves keep all of the good stuff on the noodles rather than all over the plate. I prepared mine by adding a healthy pinch of salt and two bay leaves and a few drops of olive oil to the pot of boiling water, and cooking the pasta to an al dente finish -- stir occasionally to make sure that the noodles don’t stick (the olive oil will help). I drained the noodles, retaining just a few tablespoons of the water*, and returned it to the pot. I stirred in the pesto sauce, along with four cups of washed, whole cherry tomatoes and 1 cup of whole black olives.

*If your pesto was a little on the oily side, don’t fret -- but do eliminate the extra water. I like to add the starchy pasta water to most of my sauces, as it tends to help the sauce stick together, and makes it a bit creamier. Remember that you’ve added salt to the water, so don’t over salt the pesto. I always prefer to stay on the conservative side when adding salt to recipes for guests -- let your friends add their own at the table.

The finished product was visually striking and savory -- and best of all, simple. I was able to enjoy the appetizer course and a beer with my guests and still have dinner on the table without having to slave away in the kitchen. I served it at the table, family-style, in a huge bowl.

I’m dedicating this post to my guests, Sarah & Dave, and sending a special shout-out and thank-you to Sarah for reminding me to write again! We’re already looking forward to our next meal together.