Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Radish Leaf Pesto

Update: I made radish leaf pesto today and it was surprisingly amazing. I made it with walnuts, lemon olive oil, radish tops (of course) and CapriKorn Farms cow-goat cheddar. I ate it on top of egg noodles.

I am excited to try this recipe for radish leaf pesto from the blog, Chocolate and Zucchini. No hard feelings to Yeon- and grilled radish greens. Some notes from Clotilde of Chocolate and Zucchini:

Radish leaves have a flavor that I would situate somewhere between watercress and nettles, but a few notches milder. The texture of the larger leaves can be a bit rough so they're not ideal for salads, but they make fine soups and gratins (I add them to my Swiss chard gratin), and they work beautifully in pesto, which is what I make with them most often.

When I get back from the market, I separate the leaves from the bulbs. I refrigerate the latter -- radishes should be washed moments before eating -- while I rinse and dry the leaves like I do herbs, discarding any that are limp or discolored. I then store them in a container in the fridge until I'm ready to use them -- but no longer than a day.

I prefer to remove the stems, so I simply tear them off, and keep only the leaves, which I put in my mini-chopper (this kit is the handiest appliance I've ever bought) and mix with garlic, pistachios, shavings of pecorino, and olive oil.

I think I will try this tonight!

Shannon

3 comments:

smoo said...

OK I have not tried it yet because I went to visit my mom this evening but soon!!!

Chelsea said...

Oooooh. I was just wondering if there were any recipes out there for radish greens. Seems a pity to toss them. I'll be interested to hear how this turns out...

smoo said...

Hey Chelsea- I tried the pesto and it was awesome. I didn't even have to blanch the greens- they were even a little spiny, but when I chopped them up with the oil, nuts, and cheese,they totally mellowed in flavor.