If you’re searching for a new tasty kale recipe to test out look no further. This kale pesto sauce is cinch to make and is a nutritious topping for a variety of meals. For those of you who don’t know, Kale has a high concentration of Vitamins K, A and C, is full of antioxidants and contains no fat.
This not so traditional pesto sauce can be used in a pasta sauce, as a sandwich spread, or even as a marinade. Depending on your intention for the sauce, the amount of olive oil used can be scaled up. For instance, if used as a sandwich spread or marinade; about ¼ cup of olive oil will be needed. For flavoring pasta; 1/2 cup or more olive oil will be necessary to reach the desired consistency.
Kale Pesto Sauce
Ingredients
- 5 cups Kale
- 2 cups Basil Leaves
- 3 Garlic Cloves
- 1/2 cup Sunflower Seeds
- 1/2 cup Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Wash and pat dry the kale and fresh basil. Remove and discard the kale stems, give the kale leaves a rough chop and add them to a food processor along with the basil, garlic, sunflower seeds, and parmesan cheese.
- Pulse 5 or 6 times to get everything chopped up. Turn the food processor on and slowly add the oil while the processor is processing. If you added ¼ cup of oil, you will end up with thick, spreadable pesto. You can stop here or if you desire a thinner consistency to use the pesto as pasta sauce, continue adding oil (about an additional ¼ cup) until the pesto reaches the consistency you want.
- Use immediately or refrigerate for up to 1 week (you can also make the sauce in bulk and freeze it for later).
Notes
If using the pesto as pasta sauce, use about ½ cup of oil or more to get the sauce to the desired consistency. For spreadable pesto used in sandwiches or in a marinade use about ¼ cup of oil.
