Kale and Red Cabbage Pesto

I hate to put this out there but we don’t really like garlic in our pesto.  I know it’s all wrong but I always find it overwhelming and so does my husband.  Perhaps we’re vampires...?  I’ve been making pesto with kale for a long while (recipe with garlic here) but in this particular version I had some red cabbage to use up and thought I’d try chucking that in to the mix.  I find making this with hard goat cheese packs a big enough flavour punch to make up for the lack of garlic.  This is a hearty, chunky pesto that mixes perfectly in to hot pasta.  Feel free to mix in whatever vegetables or meat you like.  I was having an avocado day when I made this.

 

Serves 2

I tend just to throw this together without weighing anything out so take this as an approximation.

1 bunch of kale (about 2-3 leaves), finely chopped.  I used cavolo nero

½ cup sliced red cabbage

1oz toasted almonds chopped

1oz hard goats cheese or parmesan, grated

Zest ½ lemon (optional)

Approx 50ml or 2 – 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Blanch the kale and cabbage in a pan of boiling water (about 2-3 minutes).  Drain and run under the cold tap to cool.  Use a kitchen towel or a clean tea towel to squeeze out any excess water.  Place the kale, cabbage, almonds lemon zest and cheese in a food processor and blend until they come together in a kind of chunky coarse paste.  Add the olive oil in a stream with the machine running until a smoother consistency is achieved.  Mix with hot pasta.