You’re familiar with pesto of course and you’re slowly being introduced to the concept of Kalettes…so may I introduce you to my Dry Kalette Pesto.
It’s Day #3 of my ‘5 Days 5 Ways with Kalettes’, a 100% self imposed challenge to get creative in the kitchen with a vegetable that I have only recently been introduced to. It’s exciting really. I imagine there may be many struggling to grasp the concept of kale and brussels sprouts, let alone a hybrid of the two! Kalettes are a relatively new vege to hit the NZ foodie world and so far, I have to say, I’m loving it.
You’ve seen them, right? These little mini cabbage-like flowers with frilly purple and green leaves are ingenious. Often I find that unless I demolish a full sized broccoli or cabbage in an evening, it often gets a little lost in the back of the fridge. But as these are dainty bite-sized/single-serve sized veges, they seem to keep their crisp and you just use them as you need them.
Last night’s Kalette and Kikorangi soup recipe was truly delicious and made me want to explore the flavours more.
I love the idea of raw cooking and, with trending paleo ways and the success of very moreish yet simple combination of raw foods, found myself on a new direction tonight.
I must declare that all intentions was to produce a good old pesto, a slushy paste that I could dollop over fish or slather over baked potatoes. HOWEVER as I am experimenting with a brand new vege, I discovered that life isn’t quite that simple. What I DID create though was stunningly delicious ‘dry’ when compared to several pesto recipes I’ve made in the past. It certainly wasn’t dripping with olive oil nor did I want to change the thing (it was dreamy just as it was)….which then got me thinking that a ‘dry pesto’ is actually a very clever thing so why not celebrate it!
Not only can a dry pesto be eaten with a range of platter items (crackers, cheese etc) without slopping off the side and dripping down your cleavage, a dry pesto can then be mixed to taste with mayonnaise as a dip, spooned into a tomato base as a pasta sauce, or reconstituted as a more liquid pesto with more olive oil, juice or water as required.
Dry Kalette Pesto
Ingredients
- 12 kalettes, raw & whole (or Brussel sprouts)
- 1 cup basil leaves
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup walnuts
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 1 juice of a lime
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
Method
- Blitz the kalettes and basil in a food process for a 10-15 seconds until ground into small pieces, drizzle in olive oil and throw in the walnuts.
- Scrape down the sides and add remaining ingredients for a few more seconds.
- Spoon into an airtight container and refrigerate before you demolish it by the spoonful!
So, tonight I spooned Dry Kalette Pesto over pan fried halloumi with diced tomatoes as a pre-dinner nibble. The result? Thumbs up all round. Actually, it didn’t need anything to go with it, I was happy to have many a spoonful of this delicious raw pesto straight from the jar!
