It’s such a treat to have a vegetable garden to tend to, watch grow, and eventually become filled with lovely organic produce. One such row in our garden is beautiful collard greens. Most often sautéed or cooked for a long time in broth and flavored with a ham hock, collard greens are a Southern staple when it comes to ultimate comfort food. Our collard greens had all of a sudden filled out and were ready to be picked, but wanting to use them in a super original way, I decided on a fresh pesto sauce of the tender greens and some local pecans. Hearty and oh-so-flavorful, this pesto was simple to make and perfect when served with a bowl full of al dente orechiette pasta.
(To view this recipe, click on the blue title of the blog post above*)
Orechiette with Collard Green-Pecan Pesto
Ingredients:
- 1 lb. orechiette pasta
- 1 bunch of collard greens, stems removed and washed
- Salt & Pepper
- ¾ cup pecan halves
- 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 garlic clove, smashed
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
Directions:
- Bring 2 large pots of salted water to a boil—one to blanch the collard greens and the other for the pasta. Cook the orechiette for 10-12 minutes or until tender; drain and set aside. In the second pot place the collard green leaves and cook for 1-2 minutes, or until soft and wilted. Drain and when cool enough to handle, squeeze dry.
- Place the wilted greens ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon of pepper and the next 5 ingredients in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until smooth and blended. (You may need to add water or more oil to thin out the pesto, depending on how you like it!)
- Toss the pesto with the warm pasta and serve.
Tagged: collard green-pecan pesto, collard greens, orechiette, pasta, pecans, pesto, vinegar
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