Keeping up with my reasonably skewed approach to pretty much everything these days, a few weeks back I bought a bunch of beetroot a with the sole purpose of lopping off the greens for pesto.
Once the greens were sorted I proceeded to fish through a jar of mixed nuts for the cashews, eating a pecan and brazil and walnut and macadamia or four as I went.
Don’t worry, the beets were used a night or two later for dinner, but right now were talking about pesto. Actually this would be pretty good over roasted beet root … but I digress. Shocker.
This Beet Greens Pesto is almost as easy as my 5-minute Chimichurri — and would be just as easy if you didn’t roast the garlic and nuts — but the little extra time for a heap of extra richness is worth it.
Oh, one tip, don’t be too confused when you pull the jar from the fridge the next day only to find that your pesto has turned green. Just under the surface it’s still a lovely pink.
I’m sure there’s some metaphor for life in that one… In the meantime try not to eat it all with a spoon.
Beet Greens & Cashew Pesto
A different twist on classic pesto, earthy beet greens and creamy cashews create a perfect blend. It’s best to use organic beetroot for this recipe so you know the greens are pesticide free. Reserve the beetroot for another use — perhaps even porridge or pie.
Makes approx 2 cups
INGREDIENTS
- 3 c beet greens, plus a handful of stems, washed
- ¼ c raw cashews
- 4 cloves garlic, skins on
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- ½ tsp sea salt
METHOD
Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Spread cashews and garlic cloves over a baking pan and roast 8 mins, stirring half way through. Peel garlic when cool enough to handle.
In a processor chop garlic. Add beet stems and process until just broken down. Add leaves and process until roughly chopped, add cashews and do the same.
Add lemon juice, oil and salt and process until well combined. Spread on sandwiches, serve with eggs or stir through pasta or rice or anything else you wish.
vegan // vegetarian // gluten-free // dairy-free // soy-free
What a striking pesto, I love the cashews in this!
Wow, you sure have a lot of ideas. I’ll remember that one next time I buy beets.
Looks and sounds delicious. Love recipes that make use of ingredients that many people would just throw away
What a stunning pesto. The colour is beautiful! I often use beet greens in salad but I love the idea of blending them up with creamy cashews to make a lemony, garlicky pesto. I’ll give this a go next time I buy beets (which will be soon, assuredly!). Thanks for the inspiration! xx
So pretty… I love your photography in this post… Great pesto idea! Do you know how long it keeps in the fridge?