We’re all trying to be less wasteful and to use as much of our produce as possible these days. I love radishes with butter for an appetizer. Lately I’ve been making this spicy radish green pesto and now I’m using every bit of my radishes!
Pesto recipes are very flexible. The exact ingredient amounts are a matter of personal taste. My pesto is never the same twice. If you like your pesto with a little more cheese or nuts, throw in a little extra. Want it a little thinner? Add more olive oil. Here is my general recipe. Do with it what you will.
I like how the strong flavor of Romano cheese holds its own with the spicy radish leaves.
We’ve eaten radish green pesto on pasta and it was delicious. We recently spread good ricotta on crusty bread slices, topped it with slices of heirloom tomatoes and then drizzled radish green pesto (thinned with olive oil) on top. Fantastic!
Tips
- Wash the radish greens very well. They tend to be very sandy.
- You can substitute pine nuts or almonds for the pistachios.
- Parmesan is the cheese most often used in pesto and it is a great option for this recipe.
- I make pesto in a food processor. It is traditionally made with a mortar and pestle. You can also use a blender.
Ingredients
- 2 large handfuls radish greens (about 3 packed cups)
- 1/2 cup pistachio nuts, shelled
- 1 large clove garlic, peeled
- Zest of half lemon and 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 2 ounces freshly grated or shaved Romano cheese (about 1/3 cup)
- Kosher salt, to taste
- Fresh ground black pepper, to taste
Directions
Quarter the garlic clove and put it in the food processor. Add all of the ingredients, except the cheese, salt and pepper. Pulse the ingredients a few times (they won’t be fully chopped).
Add the cheese and continue processing. Stop pulsing to scrape the sides of the bowl. The pesto should be smooth with slight chunkiness (small bits of nuts). Add a little pepper and salt and pulse to mix them in. Taste and adjust salt, pepper and oil as needed.
Store the pesto in an airtight container, covered with a thin layer of olive oil, in the refrigerator.
Radish green pesto is delicious with pasta.
It’s also delicious with homemade ricotta and tomatoes.
Related Topics
Here are some other recipes that you might enjoy.