Seasonal Recipe: Winter Greens Pesto
Photo by Allison Jones
This year, Portland Farmers Market has produced a set of 8 note cards featuring vibrant market images (including the one above) and recipes from local chefs and cooking authorities. This recipe, generously shared by Katherine Deumling of Cook With What You Have, is featured in the set. The cards will be available for purchase at the market information booth.
Winter Greens Pesto
Ingredients
2 bunches of greens (chard, kale, beet greens, spinach or any combination of these)
1-2 cloves garlic
1 handful of hazelnuts, walnuts, almonds or pine nuts
2 oz of hard, aged market cheese of choice (or substitute parmesan)
1/4 – 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
- Wash and stem greens (if stems are tough). If using beet greens or spinach keep the stems.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add greens and cook for a 2-3 minutes. Drain, let cool and squeeze out all the water with your hands.
- Place cheese and nuts in food processor and process until finely chopped, then add greens, garlic, salt and pepper, process until well integrated.
- Drizzle in the oil and process, periodically checking for consistency and flavor. Do not over process.
- If not using immediately store in a sealable container in the fridge with a little more olive oil poured over the top.
- Keeps well in the fridge for 3-4 days and also freezes well so feel free to make a bigger batch!
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Wondering how to turn your farmers market bounty into satisfying, healthy meals that are both quick and fun to make? View some of Katherine’s upcoming classes below:
Pantry Stocking & Quick Meals
Sunday, March 18, 11:30-1:30 pm
What should you stock so cooking in the moment is doable and satisfying? How to make/prep things ahead of time so a variety of dinners are easy to pull together later in the week. We’ll talk about systems, planning and good technique. With those tools your confidence to cook without a specific recipe will grow and the whole thing becomes more fun!
Cost: $60
Kid-friendly Dishes
Saturday, March 24, 11 – 1:00 pm
Children have different likes and dislikes but there are some techniques and dishes that tend to do well with kids and adults alike. No separate kid meals but satisfying dishes for all filled with greens, root vegetables, etc.
Cost: $60
Salads: hearty, light, cold, warm, simple and grand!
Saturday, April 7, 11 – 1:oo pm
Salads, even more than soups, are the most flexible form for a cook-with-what-you-have kind of approach. They are so often more than the sum of their parts. They are budget friendly, convenient and most of all delicious. We’ll make a whole variety of them, using common ingredients in uncommon combinations. We’ll make several different kinds of dressings–the real key to pulling all those good ingredients together into something noteworthy. These salads also make the perfect lunch to take to work the next day.
Cost: $65
What kind of cheese would you recommend other than parmesan? Are there any cheeses available at the market that would complement the pesto?
Absolutely! Two aged cheeses that come to mind are Redmondo from Juniper Grove, which is a goat’s milk cheese similar to Pecorino, and Scio Heritage from Ancient Heritage Dairy, an aged, nutty sheep’s milk cheese. Feel free to ask your favorite cheese vendor what they would recommend too!
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If only your posts were all like this, sorry if that sounds critical.