Collard Green Olive Pesto Recipes

COLLARD GREEN OLIVE PESTO

Steps:

• Bring a 6- to 8-quart pot of salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, cut stems and center ribs from collard greens and discard. Stir collards into water in batches, then simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 15 minutes. Transfer collards with tongs to a colander to drain, gently pressing on greens to extract excess water. (If making pasta, reserve water in pot for cooking pasta.) Coarsely chop collards.
• Blend olives and garlic in a food processor until finely chopped. Add collards, water, vinegar, salt, cayenne, and pepper and pulse until finely chopped. With motor running, add oil in a slow stream. Turn off motor, then add cheese and pulse to combine.

GRILLED VEGETABLES WITH COLLARD GREEN PESTO

Steps:

• For the collard green pesto: Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the collard greens and cook until the collards are bright green and tender, about 2 minutes. Drain the collards and plunge in an ice water bath to stop cooking. Drain.
• With the motor running, drop the garlic through the chute of a food processor and process until minced. Remove the lid and add the collards, cheese, basil, pecans, lemon zest, crushed red pepper and salt. Pulse until finely chopped. Pour the oil through the chute and process until the desired consistency is reached. Add the lemon juice. Add 2 tablespoons water, 1 tablespoon at a time, to thin the pesto if necessary.
• For the vegetables: Toss the asparagus, pepper, squash and zucchini with half of the pesto. Heat a grill or grill pan to medium-high heat. Grill the vegetables until browned and tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a serving platter and drizzle with the remaining pesto. Garnish with the lemon zest, if desired.

COLLARD GREEN PESTO LINGUINE

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over medium heat. Blanch collards until bright green, about 1 minute. Transfer immediately to an ice bath to shock, saving the boiling water for cooking the pasta. Remove the collards from the ice water and pat dry with paper towels before transferring them to a food processor.
• Add the linguine to the pot of salted boiling water and cook according to package instructions.
• Meanwhile, in a dry skillet, over low heat, toast the pecans until fragrant. Transfer to the food processor with Parmesan, olives and garlic. With food processor running, slowly drizzle in olive oil until pesto comes together. Taste for seasoning, and add salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste.
• To serve, put enough pesto to coat the pasta into a large serving bowl. Drain the pasta and quickly add it to the bowl. The water still clinging to the pasta will loosen up the pesto. Toss to coat. Add more pesto, if needed. Transfer the pasta to a serving bowl and garnish with Parmesan sprinkled over the top.

COLLARD AND PECAN PESTO

Steps:

• Cook 1/2 small bunch collard greens, center ribs and stems removed, in a medium pot of boiling salted water until tender, about 2 minutes. Drain. Transfer to a bowl of ice water; let cool. Drain; squeeze dry with paper towels. Blend greens, 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup toasted pecans, 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar, 1/2 teaspoons honey, and 1/4 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes in a food processor until a coarse purée forms; season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.