Best Chard And Basil Pesto With Toasted Almonds Recipes

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EASY BASIL PESTO WITH ALMONDS



Easy Basil Pesto with Almonds image

Save some money using garden-grown basil and almonds in place of pricey pine nuts. This recipe is easy, fast, and very tasty. Summer on a plate! Serve over warm pasta with a side salad and a nice loaf of bread. I also spread this on toast. If you have left over, put in a small jar and drizzle some olive oil over the top. Keep refrigerated.

Provided by SAS4U

Categories     Side Dish     Sauces and Condiments Recipes     Sauce Recipes     Pasta Sauce Recipes

Time 5m

Yield 4

Number Of Ingredients 5

2 cups fresh basil leaves
½ cup Parmesan cheese
¼ cup whole raw almonds
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, or more as needed
1 clove garlic, peeled

Steps:

  • Combine basil, Parmesan cheese, almonds, olive oil, and garlic in a food processor. Pulse until blended. Pour in more olive oil, with the processor running, until pesto is thick and smooth.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 226.4 calories, Carbohydrate 3 g, Cholesterol 8.8 mg, Fat 21.5 g, Fiber 1.4 g, Protein 6.4 g, SaturatedFat 4 g, Sodium 154 mg, Sugar 0.6 g

STRANGOZZI WITH CHARD & ALMOND SAUCE



Strangozzi with Chard & Almond Sauce image

This is a fresh and extremely flavorful preparation for strangozzi. The dressing has two components, tender cooked Swiss chard and an uncooked pesto of fresh basil and mint leaves and toasted almonds. (Other leafy greens, such as spinach, chicory, and arugula, could be used, and walnuts could replace the almonds, but the recipe here is true to the region.) It is best to prepare the greens and pesto shortly before you cook and serve the pasta, but if you follow the recipe steps, the dish is actually quite quick-cooking and simple. It is only the multitude of tastes and textures that are complex and tantalizing!

Yield makes sauce for 1 batch strangozzi or other pasta, serving 6

Number Of Ingredients 12

2 pounds Swiss chard
1 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves
4 plump garlic cloves-2 crushed and peeled, and 2 peeled and thinly sliced
10 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted
1/2 teaspoon peperoncino flakes, or to taste
1 batch (1 1/2 pounds) Homemade Strangozzi (page 202)
1 cup freshly grated Grana Padano or Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus more for passing
Extra-virgin olive oil, best-quality, for finishing
A food processor; a heavy-bottomed deep skillet or sauté pan, 12-inch diameter or wider; a large pot, 8-quart capacity, for cooking the pasta

Steps:

  • For the chard and pesto: Bring a large pot of well-salted water (at least 6 quarts with 1 tablespoon salt) to the boil. As it heats, rinse and drain the chard leaves, and cut off the stems; if the central rib of the leaf is thick and tough, cut it out. (Save the trimmings for stock.) Pile up the leaves, and slice them crosswise into strips about 1 inch wide.
  • When the water's boiling, heap all the chard into the pot and stir, submerging the strips. Return the water to the boil, and cook the chard until tender to the bite, about 10 minutes. With a spider or other strainer, lift out the chard strips, and drop them into a colander. Turn off the heat, but save the potful of hot water for cooking the strangozzi.
  • When the chard has drained and cooled a bit, squeeze the strips by handfuls, pressing out the liquid. Loosen the clumps, and pile the strips in the colander.
  • To make the herb-and-almond pesto: Put into the food-processor bowl the basil and mint leaves, the crushed garlic cloves, 3 tablespoons of olive oil, and 1 teaspoon salt. Process to a chunky paste, about 10 seconds, then drop in the toasted almonds and process again for 10 seconds, or until you have a smooth bright-green paste.
  • Pour the remaining 7 tablespoons of olive oil into the big skillet, and set it over medium-high heat. Scatter in the sliced garlic, and cook for a minute or so, until it's sizzling. Drop in the chard strips, season with peperoncino and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and stir the chard around the pan. Ladle in 1/2 cup of hot water from the pot where the chard was blanched, add to the chard, and bring it to a boil. Cook rapidly for a couple of minutes, until the water has reduced by half, then lower the heat so the greens are barely simmering.
  • For cooking and finishing the pasta: Meanwhile, bring the chard cooking water back to a rolling boil. Shake the excess flour from the nests of strangozzi, and drop all the pasta into the pot, stirring and separating the strands. Cover the pot, and rapidly return the water to a rolling boil; set the cover ajar, and cook the strangozzi for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until barely al dente.
  • With a spider and tongs, quickly lift out the strangozzi, drain for a moment, and drop them into the skillet with the simmering chard. Toss them together quickly, and spread all of the herb-almond pesto on top. Rinse out the food-processor bowl with 1/2 cup or so of hot water from the big pot, and pour that in with the pasta. Over low heat, toss the pasta, the chard, and the pesto together for a minute or two, until the strangozzi are all coated with the dressings and perfectly al dente. If the dressing is soupy, reduce it quickly over high heat; if it's too dense, thin it with more pasta water.
  • Turn off the heat, sprinkle a cup or so of grated cheese over the strangozzi, and toss well. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil, toss again, and heap the pasta in warm bowls. Serve immediately, with more cheese at the table.

SWISS CHARD AND PECAN PESTO



Swiss Chard and Pecan Pesto image

This tasty pesto is delicious tossed with warm pasta and chicken or spread on garlic bread.

Provided by MeghanO

Categories     Side Dish     Sauces and Condiments Recipes     Sauce Recipes     Pasta Sauce Recipes

Time 25m

Yield 10

Number Of Ingredients 9

½ cup olive oil, divided
10 leaves Swiss chard, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup basil leaves
1 cup pecans
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 (3 ounce) package grated Parmesan cheese
salt and ground black pepper to taste

Steps:

  • Heat 2 teaspoons of the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat; cook and stir the Swiss chard and garlic in the hot oil until the chard leaves have wilted, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
  • Process the basil, pecans, sea salt, Parmesan cheese, and remaining olive oil in a food processor until all the ingredients are well integrated. Add the Swiss chard mixture and the lemon juice to the food processor; continue chopping until the mixture is pureed. Season with salt and pepper.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 227.9 calories, Carbohydrate 4.4 g, Cholesterol 7.4 mg, Fat 22.1 g, Fiber 2 g, Protein 5.4 g, SaturatedFat 3.7 g, Sodium 319.1 mg, Sugar 1.1 g

SWISS CHARD PESTO WITH ALMONDS AND PECORINO



Swiss Chard Pesto with Almonds and Pecorino image

Provided by Geoffrey Zakarian

Categories     condiment

Time 20m

Yield 2 1/2 cups

Number Of Ingredients 10

Kosher salt
3 bunches Swiss chard, stems removed
3/4 cup toasted almonds
3/4 cup grated aged Pecorino Romano cheese
Pinch nutmeg
Pinch ground cloves
2 lemons, zested and juiced
1 clove garlic, grated on a rasp grater
About 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper

Steps:

  • Bring a large pot of water to a boil; season the water generously with kosher salt. Prepare an ice water bath with a colander. Blanch the Swiss chard in the boiling water until tender, about 2 minutes. Shock immediately in the ice water. Drain by squeezing the leaves in a ball in a clean kitchen cloth.
  • Put the cooked chard, almonds, cheese, nutmeg, cloves, lemon zest and juice and garlic into the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the mixture begins to break down and come together. Add enough olive oil to the mixture to just get it to come together, about 3/4 cup. Season with salt and pepper.

CHARD AND BASIL PESTO WITH TOASTED ALMONDS



Chard and Basil Pesto with Toasted Almonds image

Love the flavor that chard adds to this recipe. This is great as a dip, but would also really tasty added to some grilled chicken.

Provided by Tammy Brownlow @DoughmesticGoddess

Categories     Other Sauces

Number Of Ingredients 8

1 cup(s) swiss chard
1 cup(s) basil
5 slice(s) sun dried tomatoes
1/3 cup(s) almonds
1/2 cup(s) finely shredded romano
1/8 teaspoon(s) crushed red pepper
3 large garlic cloves, peeled
- olive oil for drizzle

Steps:

  • Toast almonds until fragrant in a 300 degree oven about 5 minutes.
  • Snip stems off chard and basil. Peel garlic and grate Romano Cheese.
  • Pulse almonds in a food processor until chopped. Add chard, basil, cheese, garlic, sun dried tomatoes, and crushed red pepper. Pulse until fine.
  • While food processor is running pour olive oil in a thin stream until it is a thick paste.
  • Serve fresh or freeze in Ziploc bags. Makes 1 cup.

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