Kevin Lee Jacobs

Gardening, Recipes & Home Décor Tips

Kale Pesto – My Way

BY Kevin Lee Jacobs | 41 Comments

Last updated on October 12th, 2016

GOT KALE? Make my garlicky, lemony, kale pesto! It’s delicious on…everything. Serve it with crackers at your next cocktail party, or as a gorgeous topping for grilled chicken or baked salmon. Or, do what I did yesterday, and stir it into steaming strands of angel hair pasta. Yum, yum, yum. The easy recipe:

Note. You can make pesto from any kale variety, including the big-leaved ‘Red Russian’ (pictured above, in my garden).

Another note. One pound of kale will yield 2 heaping cups of pesto.

Yet another note. If you use large, mature leaves, you’ll want to blanch them first. Why? Because blanching removes much of the leaves’ natural bitterness. It also preserves the gorgeous green color. Young leaves are not particularly bitter, so you need only blanch them if color is important to you.

To start, remove the tough, fibrous central-stem from each leaf. You can save the stems for stock, or just do what I do, and toss them into the compost bin.

Put the tender greens in a pot of boiling water, and push them down with a spoon. Let cook for exactly 3 minutes.

Scoop up the leaves with a fine-mesh sieve…

And immediately submerge them in a bowl of ice water. Chill for 3 minutes. The coldness will “set” the leaves’ color.

Once again, scoop the greens into your sieve, let them drain for a few seconds, and then drop them onto a clean terry towel.

Roll up and press the towel so that most of the water gets absorbed.

Now onto the pesto!

Put the kale into the bowl of your food processor…

And add the juice of 1 lemon. This bit of acidity will further help to neutralize the bitterness of older kale leaves.

On a side-note, I’d just like to say that I haven’t grown bitter with age.

If anything, I’ve mellowed.

Like a fine wine.

Now get off my lawn.

Also add a big handful (about 4 ounces) of slivered almonds…

A generous 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese…

And 3 fat cloves of peeled garlic.

The garlic pictured above came from my own garden.

Don’t pretend you’re not impressed.

Pulse the ingredients several times, just to break them up.

Now add 1 teaspoon kosher salt…

And a whisper of nutmeg.

Then, with the machine running, add just enough olive oil to achieve the consistency you want. I always start with a very thick sauce, and then thin it out with more oil (or the cooking water from pasta) as needed.

Now taste the paste. You might find that it needs more salt. Salt, like lemon juice, is another bitterness-buster.

How to serve this lemony, nutmeggy, garlicky, nutritious deliciousness?

Well, as I mentioned earlier, it’s delicious on crackers…

And on pasta, including the angel hair variety pictured above.  Just thin it out with some of the pasta cooking-water.

Here, for your convenience, is a copy-and-paste version of the above:

Kale Pesto
As made by Kevin Lee Jacobs (www.kevinleejacobs.com)
Ingredients for 2 generous cups of sauce
1 pound kale leaves, the tough stems removed
The juice of 1 lemon
4 ounces slivered almonds
a generous 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 large cloves garlic
1 teaspoon (or more, to taste) kosher salt
a pinch (about 1/4 teaspoon) ground nutmeg
Olive oil

Blanching the leaves — Put the kale leaves into a pot of rapidly-boiling water, and push them down with a wooden spoon. Let cook for 3 minutes. Then scoop up the greens with a fine-mesh sieve, and submerge them in a large bowl of ice water. Chill for 3 minutes. Drain in the sieve, and then spread the leaves onto a clean terry towel. Roll up and press down on the towel to absorb as much moisture as possible.

Making the pesto — Put the blanched leaves, lemon juice, almonds, cheese, and garlic in the food processor. Pulse several times just to break up the ingredients. Then add the salt and the nutmeg. Turn the machine on, and slowly add olive through the feed tube until you achieve the desired consistency.

Tip: If you make a thick pesto, you can always thin it out later with additional olive oil. Or, if you are using the pesto for pasta, thin it out with the pasta cooking water.

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Related Posts:
Easy Crème Brûlée
Chicken and Lemon Polpettine
Easy Homemade Baguettes

Comments

  5. 5

    Anne in Vermont says

    Thank you for this Kevin. I have made spinach presto before, but not kale and this year I have too much to process and freeze.

    I am looking forward to trying the creme brulé recipe too. When my father visited from England this summer he brought me his culinary torch – he lost his sight and can no longer cook more than basic food let alone use the torch. Can your recipe be reduced by half successfully to try it out?

  6. 6

    Tiffany says

    I’m always disappointed with the texture of frozen kale, and this looks like the perfect solution for lomg term storage! Thanks!

  10. 10

    sherry kanoski says

    I keep looking, but there is no “whisper” measurement on my set of measuring spoons! Oh dear!

  11. 11

    sherry kanoski says

    On another note, I freeze my kale & spinach. Then, when making daily smoothie, I grab a handful of frozen greenery, and add to my drink. Helps keep the smoothie healthy and gives some structure along with my frozen banana.

  13. 13

    Karen says

    I love all you pesto recipes and make them often. Can’t wait to try this one! Love getting your weekly post in my inbox.

  14. 14

    Pat says

    My daughter and I love YOU Kevin. Your recipes are ‘delicious’ as are your comments. Your writing is so intimate. You ‘feel’ like a best friend. Do wish you lived around the corner.

  18. 18

    Morgan says

    Hi Kevin, this looks amazing! My neighbor grows kale for his chickens and has promised me some, this will make a nice change from chips. Have you ever tried giving Lily the kale stems? My dogs always seemed to consider them treats and used to beg me for them. Collards, too.

  19. 19

    Ardelle says

    I will try this since I have more kale than I can use quickly. Yesterday I picked quite a bit of it and made your Kale Chips. A bit of time involved to make sure I removed the spiders along with their cute little homes on the underside of the leaves but I did 3 cookies sheets while doing other things in between – no Gin and tonic though since it was only 9:30 am when I started 🙂 Anyway, it tastes good but the ‘chips’ are so delicate that I fear they will be nothing but dust when guests start grazing. My fall back plan is to toss them all into the soup pot tomorrow. Back to the pesto idea, I love pesto and we make LOTS of it with basil each year and freeze it in tiny glass jars – we regularly eat it on our morning toast – home made bread – instead of butter with our eggs, hash browns and ?? I love my garden bounty! Bought a small (10′ mature) variety of blue spruce yesterday @ Costco (for a song) so will be setting that in tomorrow. My neighbors blue spruce has been a joy since it houses so many species of birds during all seasons – cover in the cold winters we have and a noisy nursery of cardinal babies, song sparrows, etc in the spring. Have a great day.

  24. 24

    Carole says

    Now I’m wondering if I planted enough kale for my winter garden. I had planned to try your kale chips, but only have eight plants.

  26. 26

    Peggy says

    WOW! I can’t wait to try this. If anybody else said you could make pesto out of kale, I’d not

    give it the time of day, but if KLJ says it’s so, I’m all in. Oh–you didn’t specify; is the color of

    the utensils critical for this recipe?

  27. 27

    Nancy says

    Oh boy, doing this today. Have loads of Kale in the Garden. and lots of Garlic also..
    I am very excited for this recipe. Thanks so much…
    Nancy

  28. 28

    Tiffany says

    Love the new photo of you! I cannot imagine that you don’t make anything that tastes heavenly. I’ve made almost everything you’ve posted and also made it gluten free. Thanks for all your efforts and for this website. You are loved and appreciated enormously. Will, of course, make these recipes as well. Looking forward to again an evening of gastronomic heaven.

  30. 30

    kelly says

    This so delicious, I want to make it everyday! I have prepared several times and I simply can’t get enough of this green little treasure. It is sinfully tasty. Thank you for sharing all of your lovely recipes. I am looking forward to the next gem.

  31. 31

    Judy Pennington says

    Kevin dear, love your articles, recipes, and your wonderful sense of humor. I was told if I made pesto to freeze, not add the cheese until I thawed it and was ready to serve. something about the cheese not doing well in the freezer? Your comments please.

  33. 33

    Cary Bradley says

    Brilliant, as always, and as per usual, your comments slay me. 😉 I thought that looked like Mary’s Gone cracker. Had for the first time this month and they are fab! Oh ye with answers to all life’s important questions: Where do you s’pose the gone in Gone crackers comes from? 🙂 …………. Off to slay some kale and then to make my first sauerkraut, but should probably get dressed first at noon is closing in. Cheers to you, my friend. Enjoy your weekend! 🙂

  35. 35

    Selma Hamilton says

    Made this for New Year’s Eve party!!! Smells devine and I’m sure it will taste that way! Thanks Kevin for another winner!

  36. 36

    Ann says

    Kevin’s green pestos are a delight. I’ve made the chive pesto several times and it’s dee-lish! Am eager to make the kale pesto.

  38. 38

    Shelagh- The Gaited Gardner says

    Hi Kevin, I’ve been waiting to try this recipe for weeks and voila! It’s done and it is beyond delicious! I had hoped to serve with angel hair pasta for dinner but wonder if it will last that long.
    Well done my friend. Another super duper success.

  40. 40

    Jeri says

    Finally got around to making this recipe ~ I printed it last year and knew there would be a time I would need it. I had a super large bag of kale from the garden in the frig waiting for me to do something with and presto – it became pesto! Delicious AND a super food ~ lol! Love all your recipes and enjoy making them. Thank you for sharing and for the way you delight in all that you make. I often think of you when I am in my kitchen creating perfections – like your post on spatulas and how addicted you are to them!! I have some favorite kitchen tools that I say to myself I wouldn’t want to do without. Makes cooking a joy.

  41. 41

    Honeybee says

    Oh Kevin this is delicious. You never steer me wrong. I did add some raw spinach since I was short on kale.

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