Bitter Green Pesto Pasta

Everything green is not golden. There ch have been several posts and vlogs lately discussing how pesto wasn't always basil, pine nuts, olive oil, and parm. Pesto apparently was made with various greens and a mixture of different nuts and cheeses. Following the lead from a British food vlog on ways to use all parts of bitter green, a Swiss Chard Pesto Pasta was made. It was not the British vlog recipe because I didn't save the video and I couldn't find when I needed it. Of course.

Modifications Made:

Parsley was omitted and a pinch of red pepper flakes were added.

Scaled for Likability

Before you go off on a tangent about how pesto is always basil, the issue with this pesto was the chard was not fresh and it was bitter from being in the fridge too long. Leaves had gone limp in the fridge and the stems were not removed before pesto was made. Just goes to show you sometimes fresh is best. It's not like there wasn't bunches of fresh chard in the garden. Overlooking the soggy chard, the pesto had perfect coverage on the pasta was the correct balance of cheese to greens, and was wonderful with the red pepper flakes.

Pesto pasta will be made again, and yes with chard, but leaves will be fresh, stems will be omitted, dark olive oil will be used for a stronger flavor, and walnuts will be ground first in the high powered blender before all other ingredients to create smaller pieces without mushing the chard.

Not sure if this pesto would work with tube pasta but it held up well to noodles and I am sure it will hold up well to bow tie or spirals, too. and would be great cold with antipasto toppings.

Better Than Campbell's Old Fashion Vegetable Soup

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Eating Waffles

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