basil, walnut & kale pesto pasta
It’s been a while since my last recipe post. To be honest, Jeff and I haven’t been trying new recipes lately. We’ve gotten into the ‘make the same things’ rut.
We finally got around to making something different a couple weeks ago: kale and basil pesto pasta. Our friend Nita gave us a bunch of basil from her farm share, and it was too good to let it go to waste. Foodgawker helped me decide on this recipe from Clean Green Simple. I liked how it combined kale and basil in the pesto. And it doesn’t call for that much olive oil (anyone else feel that pesto is pretty greasy sometimes?)
The pasta was super tasty: you could taste the basil, but it wasn’t overpowering. And it wasn’t as heavy as the typical pesto pasta (which means we can eat more of it, right?) We used broccoli instead of asparagus, which I really liked. This recipe is definitely a keeper; we’ll have to make this next time we have fresh basil around!
Ingredients
1 lb pasta (we used whole wheat)
10-12 cloves garlic, minced fine
2 c. fresh basil
2 c. fresh kale
3/4 c. raw, unsalted walnuts
1 onion, minced
2 Tbsp olive oil
2/3 c. water
1 tsp salt
1 bunch (about 10-12 stalks) asparagus or broccoli, chopped into small pieces
20-30 cherry tomatoes, halved (or 2 medium tomatoes chopped into 1/2 inch chunks)
parmesan (optional)
Directions
one
Start a large pot of water boiling, and cook your noodles according to the package directions. When you drain the noodles, reserve a cup or two of the water to add to the pasta.
two
Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium heat, add your onion, kale, basil, about 2/3 of the minced garlic, and walnuts and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are softened and the greens are just starting to wilt. (If you want your onion cooked very thoroughly you may want to add it a couple minutes ahead of everything else)
three
Once the greens and walnut mixture is ready, remove it from the pan and add it to a blender or food processor. Return the pan to the stove over medium heat and add asparagus/broccoli and the rest of the garlic. Heat the asparagus/broccoli for 3-6 minutes until it is softened but still somewhat crisp.
four
While the asparagus/broccoli cooks, add water, and salt to the food processor with the cooked greens (kale, basil) and blend until smooth.
five
Once your asparagus/broccoli and pasta noodles are ready, combine all ingredients in a large bowl, adding the reserved pasta water to help the pesto coat the noodles. Grate fresh Parmesan on top of the pasta. Serve warm or cold.
Enjoy!
Thank you for finding this recipe and posting it. Looks delicious.
[...] I first hopped over to Esther’s blog, I found this post. Now y’all know that I’m a very picky eater, but have been searching from some great [...]
[...] basil, walnut & kale pesto pasta (whollykao.com) [...]
This looks so yummy! I think pesto makes everything taste wonderful. Thanks for sharing!!
This looks yummy, minus the tomatoes. I like non-chunky tomato sauces, but not a fan of just plain tomatoes.
I’ve been searching for some simple & easy (& inexpensive) recipes to add to my recipe box. My husband usually does the cooking & leaves the baking to me, but he starts school soon…so I’ll be taking over the chef role a few nights. Can’t wait to give this a try!
hi esther! this looks good. hmmm, i wonder if i can get kale here in the phils.
This goes into my folder of Recipes!
That looks delicious! Personally, I’d probably pass on the tomatoes (never been a big fan of them), but the rest of it looks so good that I wish I had some for supper right now! Thanks for sharing the link to the recipe, too!
Yummmmmm…
that looks so yum! thanks for sharing, will be sure to try this one out some time
That looks delicious! We’ve been stuck in that same food rut, and sometimes if seems like such a chore to do the shopping and all the prep, but it so worth it when you have a fresh and tasty meal in the end. Thanks for the inspiration. I have some fresh rhubarb in the fridge and I’m now determined not to let it go to waste.