kale + olive pesto
April 9, 2011
I know none of us want to admit this but we could all use a little more kale and collard greens in our life. They are probably one of the best things you can eat – like if you were stranded on a desert island or in the gulag in siberia and you could choose one food, kale would probably be a good choice. So instead of the “ho-hum, what do I do with this stuff?” – try this really tasty kale and olive pesto. I adapted it from fresh365 (who in turn adapted it from Gourmet) and immediately made a sandwich out of it on fresh olive baguette with roasted red pepper and arugula. Holy cow! Who said kale couldn’t be tasty and fun.
6 large kale leaves, center stems removed
12-15 large pitted Greek olives
2 large garlic cloves, peeled
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp pine nuts
1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup olive oil
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add kale, and cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Let drain. Coarsely chop. In a food processor, blend olives and garlic until finely chopped. Add kale, vinegar, pine nuts, sun-dried tomatoes, cayenne, pepper and salt, and pulse until well chopped. With motor running, add oil in a slow stream, until well blended. Season to taste.
v:gourmet 
December 17, 2011 at 7:32 pm
Ruth, this kale pesto was absolutely outstanding as a sauce for penne pasta. I also made a tomato penne pasta, adding a bottle of “Passata Di Pomedore” strained tomatoes to make a basic tomato, onion, garlic, carrot, celery, dried pepper and oregano sauce even redder. So with a plate with half green kale pesto and half red tomato pasta, I had a very colourful and tasty Christmas season pasta dish.
December 18, 2011 at 3:31 pm
I love this Glenn. What a great idea. I haven’t tried the pesto on pasta but it’s damn good on toast, on pizza, on sandwiches etc. so I can imagine it would be great with penne. I love pestos; I am going to experiment with a sun-dried tomato pesto soon. I’ll keep you posted.