pesto – Mado Food

Makes 1 1/2 cups

Scapes can blow your socks off. A pure pesto of green garlic tops can reduce even the most ardent of garlic lovers into a wimp. Kale is the answer. It softens the garlic bite and adds a fresh vegetal flavour. Lemon juice brightens it up, both visually and on the palate.

1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted

8-10 scapes, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces

2 cups baby kale or coarsely chopped kale, stems removed

3 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 cup olive oil

3/4 cup grated parmesan

Pinch salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Toast the pine nuts in a dry frying pan over medium high heat. Stir constantly and take off heat once golden brown and oily.

Drop scapes and pine nuts down the feeding tube of a food processor while running at high and process until finely chopped. Add kale and lemon juice into the bowl, scrape down the sides and pulse on high until a lime green paste is created. Pour olive oil down the feeding tube with motor on high to blend well. Stir in cheese, salt and pepper, to taste.

It’s August and I’m dipping fingers and bread into a bowl of freshly made pesto. The colour shimmers emerald green and licorice notes of sweet basil jump into my nostrils, the garlic-tinged oil making a smooth slide down my throat.

I want to eat it by the spoonful, but instead rush to store it before the colour and flavor are ruined by oxidization. So off it goes, portioned into small, glass jars covered by a thick layer of oil, lidded and refrigerated. I will slather it on warm toast, piling on sliced garden tomatoes and crisp bacon to make daily BLTs to be consumed with lascivious abandon. A teaspoon or two will find its way into homemade salad dressings, more will be drizzled over grilled shrimp and sometimes I’ll float a coin-sized island of it in the middle of a creamy cold cucumber soup or smear it on crostini with grilled veggies.