Hello everyone, Jess here. I wanted to chronicle this recipe from Springdell’s newsletter in Veggiescope, so I thought I’d give it a try. On the home I passed the farmer’s market and picked up some scallops, so we’ll see what happens!
KALE & WALNUT PESTO
1/4 cup Walnuts
1/2 tsp. Salt, divided
1 bunch Kale, any variety
2 cloves, Garlic, minced
1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 cup Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
Freshly Ground Black Pepper, to taste
1. Toast the chopped walnuts in a cast iron skillet over high heat, stirring constantly, until they begin to brown in spots and become fragrant. Be sure not to burn! Transfer the walnuts to a dish to cool.
2. Bring two quarts of water to a boil. Add salt, then add kale. Cook kale until tender (about 10 minutes). Drain.
3. Put the garlic, walnuts, and kale in a blender or food processor, pulse until well combined. With the blender or food processor running, pour in the olive oil in a steady, smooth, pencil-thin stream.
4. When the ingredients are thoroughly combined, transfer to a bowl. Stir in the parmesan cheese, a little bit of salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot!
I tried two versions, once with Lacinato and walnuts, and one with Red Russian and pecans. Both were delicious!
So what to do with all this pesto? It’s great stirred with pasta, on crackers, sandwiches, in tomato sauce, salsa, mixed with oil and vinegar for salad dressing, mixed with eggs for an herbalicious omelette, and many more uses! Freeze it up in ice cube trays and you’ll be glad to drop a cube into your dishes throughout the off season!
Tonight, I pan seared my farmer’s market scallops in some browned Amish Roll Butter over high heat. When the butter began to brown, in went the scallops.
Between 2-3 minutes on high heat and these puppies were ready to flip.
Another 2-3 minutes and these bad boys were ready to enjoy. (2-3 minutes does not seem like a long time, but remember you’re working with high heat, and the cooking will continue even after the scallops are removed from the heat.)
Here are the scallops nestled via kale pesto onto a big ole’ Boston lettuce leaf!
I think the pecan pesto was best with the scallops, the buttery flavor of the pecan and the earthiness of the kale really complimented the scallops.