Hey Presto, It's Kale Pesto!!

Curly leaf

Kale is the "food of the month", more likely the decade. It's popping up everywhere in recipes from kale chips to kale smoothies. Kale is very versatile and can certainly be used in many ways in enhance many dishes.

There are 5 basic leafy varieties of kale.

• Curly-leaved (Scots Kale)
• Plain-leaved
• Rape kale
• Leaf and spear (Red Russian Kale is one example)
• Cavolo nero (also known as black cabbage, Tuscan Cabbage, Tuscan Kale, Lacinato and dinosaur kale)

Plain leaf 

My favourite (at this point, without trying them all) is the Cavolo Nero variety but I prefer to call it Tuscan Cabbage as it originates from Tuscany.

I feel the Tuscan Cabbage is quite versatile as you can use it to create kale chips, in dips, in stir fries or you can wilt into a veggie mix. The options are almost endless.

Today I thought I'd show you how to make a kale pesto. This recipe is quite delicious but you can add/swap ingredients to flavour it how you like.

Kale Pesto

Rape Kale

Equipment:

Red Russian

- Processor

- Spatula

- Jar or bowl for serving

Ingredients:

- 1 cup Tuscan Cabbage (stalks removed)

- 1 clove garlic

- 1/2 cup almond meal

- 5 Tbsp light olive oil

- Approx. 4 fresh basil leaves (depending on size)

- 2 tsp Nutritional Yeast

Method:

1. Place all ingredients except the oil into the processor and blend at high speed for 20-30 seconds.

Cavolo nero

2. Once ingredients are mixed, add most of the olive oil and blend until it forms a paste.

3. If the pesto is too dry, add the remainder of the olive oil gradually until it reaches your desired consistency.

**You can use this pesto as a dip or you can toss into a salad. There are plenty of uses for this versatile pesto.

Have fun experimenting with flavours to create your own kale pesto. Would love to hear from you with your alterations.

~AS Angel~