Bitter Green Pesto Recipes

BITTER GREENS SALAD WITH BROCCOLI RABE PESTO, ITALIAN SAUSAGE AND FRESH MOZZARELLA

Steps:

• Prepare an ice bath and set aside.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Blanch the broccoli rabe until just tender, about 90 seconds, and immediately transfer to the ice bath until cooled. Drain water and squeeze out excess liquid, then place in the carafe of a food processor. Add the basil, pistachios, grated Parmesan and smashed garlic. Pulse with olive oil until still chunky but all ingredients have combined, using just enough olive oil to loosen. Add the mascarpone and pulse until just combined into the pesto. Remove the pesto from the carafe and set aside.
• Heat a medium skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil to just barely coat the skillet. Sear the sausages on all sides until cooked through and beginning to brown, about 12 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
• Whisk together the red wine vinegar, minced garlic and 1/4 cup olive oil in a small bowl. Season with salt and crushed red pepper.
• Toss the arugula, endive and escarole together in a bowl with the vinaigrette. Spoon all but a few spoonfuls of the pesto on the bottom of a plate or serving dish. Top with the dressed greens, mozzarella, sausages sliced on a bias and more of the pesto. Serve!

CARROT TOP PESTO

Steps:

• Prep the carrot tops: Rinse the carrot top greens to dislodge any dirt. Pick out and discard any dry, yellowed, or otherwise unappetizing looking leaves. Discard tough stems.
• Pulse greens, garlic, cashews, salt, pepper in food processor: Place the carrot tops greens, baby spinach, chopped garlic, roasted cashews, salt, and pepper in a food processor. Pulse several times. Scrape the sides down with a rubber spatula.
• Slowly add the olive oil: While the food processor is running, slowly pour in the olive oil in a steady stream. Scrape the sides down with a rubber spatula. Pulse until smooth.

CHICKEN WITH BITTER HERB PESTO

Steps:

• Turn on food processor and drop garlic through feed tube. When minced add pine nuts and currants and chop finely. Add escarole and parsley, and process until very fine. Season with salt and pepper.
• Spread chicken pieces flat, pound lightly, then season inside with salt and pepper. Spread with some escarole mixture and close up. Brush with a little oil. Reserve 1 tablespoon matzo meal: season the rest with salt and pepper, and use to coat chicken.
• Heat oven to 250 degrees. Heat remaining oil in large, heavy skillet. Cook chicken, turning once, over medium-high heat until golden. Inside will not be cooked. Place in a baking pan, cover loosely with foil and place in oven 1 1/2 hours. Add chicken stock to skillet and set aside.
• When chicken is done, transfer to platter and keep warm in turned-off oven. Pour juices from baking pan into skillet, bring to a simmer, whisk in vinegar and reserved matzo meal and cook, stirring constantly until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper. Strain sauce, reheat briefly, and serve alongside chicken.

BRIGHT GREEN PESTO AND ITS MANY USES

Steps:

• Bring a medium-size saucepan full of water to a boil while you rinse basil leaves. Fill a bowl with ice water and place it next to the saucepan with a skimmer close by (a Chinese skimmer is good for this). When water comes to a boil, salt generously and add basil leaves. Push them down into the water with the back of a skimmer to submerge, count to five, then remove immediately with skimmer and transfer to ice water. Drain and squeeze out excess water.
• Place pine nuts or walnuts in a food processor and process until finely ground. Add blanched basil and kosher salt to taste (I use 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon) and process until finely chopped. With machine running, slowly add olive oil and continue to process for a full minute, or until the mix is reduced to a fine purée. Transfer to a bowl. You should have about 1/2 cup of purée .
• When you are ready to use the pesto, purée garlic in a mortar and pestle, or put through a garlic press, and stir into the pesto (or if using a mortar and pestle, add the puréed basil to the mashed garlic in mortar and work garlic and pesto together with pestle). Add Parmesan and stir in. The pesto will condense when you add the cheese, so even though you've added a half-cup of cheese to the purée, you will end up with about 2/3 cup of pesto. Follow the instructions in recipes for thinning out with water.

BITTER GREEN PESTO

Steps:

• Place the arugula, watercress, scallions, roasted garlic, salt and pepper in a food processor and process until finely chopped. With the machine running, slowly pour in the olive oil. Process until smooth, stopping to scrape sides of the bowl. Store in an airtight container.

BEET-GREEN PESTO

Steps:

• Pistachios: Toast pistachios in a skillet over low heat until they're light brown in spots, with a toasty aroma, 2-3 minutes.
• Greens: Pull leaves from stems and wash thoroughly (they can be sandy). Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, and blanch the greens for 20 seconds (to preserve their color). Using a slotted spoon, transfer them to a bowl of ice water (to stop the cooking).
• Pesto: Purée the pistachios, garlic, and oil in a food processor until nuts are combined with the oil but still chunky (you don't want to make nut butter). Remove greens from the ice water and squeeze out excess water. Roughly chop them and add to the food processor with a pinch of salt. Pulse to combine, leaving the pesto slightly chunky. Taste for seasoning. Push down the sides of the bowl and pulse 5 more seconds.
• Assembly: Toss half of the pesto with the cooked penne, adding more as needed. Serve immediately.

CLASSIC PESTO

Steps:

• Heat a small frying pan over a low heat. Cook the pine nuts until golden, shaking occasionally. Put into a food processor with the basil, parmesan, olive oil and garlic cloves. Whizz until smooth, then season to taste.