Kale pesto

When I was visiting my mom and dad a few weeks ago, I noticed that my mom still had some cubes of her basil pesto stored in their freezer.  Ever since I saw them I've been longing for the taste of summery pasta dishes tossed with fragrant green.  Unfortunately, it is not easy to track down large bunches of fresh basil this time of year, but what I do almost always have in my fridge these days is a large bunch of fresh green kale, so I figured there was no harm in trying to make a pesto out of that.  I used my mom's basil pesto recipe, making a few substitutions and adding a few new ingredients, and the pesto that resulted was far beyond my expectations!  Infused with the flavours of garlic, lemon, and toasted walnuts, this kale pesto has become a lovely addition to our family's spring meals.

Kale Pesto

2 cloves of garlic
4 packed cups of washed, roughly chopped green kale
1/4 cup lightly toasted walnuts
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
the juice and zest of one lemon
1/4 tsp sea salt

Drop the cloves of garlic into the bowl of a food processor while the motor is running at high speed.  Turn off the motor, and add the kale, toasted walnuts, olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, and sea salt to the bowl.  Process all ingredients at high speed, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl a few times, until you achieve a pesto with a nice consistency.

Kale pesto is delicious tossed with pasta (I use gluten-free brown rice spaghetti) or vegetables, or spread on a pizza crust or sandwich.  With this delightful lemony green pesto in my fridge now, I won't mind waiting until summer for basil. :)