Generally speaking I’m not a picky eater. Just the opposite in fact. There are very few things I won’t eat or at least try. I’ve had alligator in Florida, live lobster sashimi and rattlesnake in New York, fried lamb’s brains and pasta with calf’s intestines in Rome, fermented cassava balls in Nigeria, durian fruit and duck embryo in The Phillippines, ant larvae soup in Cambodia, sea cucumber in Hong Kong, boiled chicken feet and pan-roasted leafcutter ants in Colombia, grilled cow heart in Peru, curried rat in Guyana, grasshopper tacos in Mexico, frogs, snails and horse meat steak in Paris… But I draw the line at kale.
Or at least most kale. I actually don’t dislike Tuscan kale, aka dinosaur kale or lacinato kale in English, known in Italy as cavolo nero, literally “black cabbage” due to its dark green color. My main problem with kale is its implacable fibrousness, which no amount of cooking seems to get rid of. Tuscan kale has relatively tender leaves which do, in fact, yield to cooking. Still, I prefer to hide it in a minestrone, a farinata or ribollita rather than “enjoying” it on its own. With one exception, that is…
Pesto di cavolo nero is a cold weather pesto made with Tuscan kale rather than the basil you’d find in pesto genovese. The kale is pre-blanched to tenderize them and help fix the color and, although you can prepare this pesto with pine nuts, I much prefer the deeper flavor of another cold weather favorite, walnuts. The milder parmigiano-reggiano usually substitutes for pecorino sardo. Garlic is often omitted as well, but I quite like to keep it.
You can use pesto di cavolo nero in all the usual ways you might use basil pesto, including of course as a dressing for pasta. I think it’s particularly lovely on a ribbon pasta like tagliatelle or that most Tuscan of pastas, pappardelle. But it takes to just about any pasta you fancy. It can also enliven soups or, for hardcore pesto lovers like myself, even served on toasted bread.
Ingredients
- 1 bunch of Tuscan kale, about 200g/7 oz untrimmed
- A handful of shelled walnuts, about 50g/2 oz
- 1-2 cloves of garlic (optional)
- 30g/1 oz freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano
- olive oil
- salt
Directions
Trim the kale leaves of their thick stems, then blanch them in boiling water for about 3 minutes.
Drain the kale leaves in a colander and run them quickly under cold water. Squeeze them dry and chop them roughly.
Add the blanched kale leaves to the bowl of a food processor, along with the walnuts, garlic and a small pinch of salt. Pulse until you have a rough paste. Now run the processor continuously while you drizzle in enough olive oil to produce a smooth and dense paste. (If you feel the need to measure, try about 125ml or 1/2 cup of oil.)
Turn the paste out into a small mixing bowl. Mix in the grated cheese. If need be, thin it out with more olive oil (or some of the kale cooking water) so you have a very thick but just pourable mixture. The oil should make it glisten.
Taste and adjust for seasoning.
Notes
The pre-blanching isn’t essential—Italian recipes go both ways, with some advising that the tender center leaves of a head of cavolo nero don’t need boiling—but here in the US, the leaves are sold separated from the plant, so who knows whether they’re from the center or not? Anyway, I just blanch them to be sure. Tuscan kale might be tender relative to other types of kale, but they have nothing like the delicate texture of basil!
Otherwise as you can plainly see, the recipe is basically foolproof. Practically a “non-recipe”.
If you want to use pesto di cavolo nero to dress pasta, use the same technique as you would with a basil pesto: Place a good dollop in the bottom of a serving bowl, than add your pasta on top, along with a bit of the pasta cooking water. Mix well and adjust: add more pesto if it needs it, more water if it’s too thick. Serve right away.
Variations
Of course, you can feel free to play around with the measurements to suit your taste. (When I’m not blogging I usually don’t actually measure anyway, but some of our readers insist.) I’m a big fan of garlicky pesto so I add two cloves, even though most Italian recipes omit it altogether or call for just one clove. Some will advise you to blanch the garlic along with the kale to mute its power.
One common but rather surprising ingredient you’ll find in many recipes for pesto di cavolo nero: A pinch of red hot pepper (!) Personally this doesn’t appeal to me but that’s me.
Other variations include the use of almonds instead of (or along with) walnuts. Or pine nuts as you would in a basil pesto. For me, the strong taste of walnuts pairs best with the flavor of Tuscan kale, but the other two will give you a more delicate result.
Or substitute pecorino (preferably Tuscan, of course) for the parmigiano-reggiano. It’s more assertive than parmigiana-reggiano but much less sharp than the Roman pecorino we can find here in the US. If you like a creamier pesto di cavolo nero, especially for pasta, I enjoy adding a dollop of ricotta to the bowl along with the pesto.
Giulia Scarpaleggia of Juls Kitchen, a popular Tuscan cooking blog, likes to sauté her kale leaves in garlic and olive oil rather than blanching them.
Making ahead
Pesto di cavolo nero will keep in the fridge for a couple of days if you just cover the top with a bit of olive oil to seal it. Truth be told, I’ve kept it much longer than that and it was still perfectly edible. And I imagine that it would freeze well, though I haven’t tried it.
Pesto di cavolo nero
Ingredients
- 1 bunch 1 bunch of Tuscan kale, about 200g/7 oz untrimmed
- 50g 2 oz shelled walnuts
- 1-2 cloves garlic optional
- 30g 1 oz parmigiano-reggiano freshly grated
- olive oil
- salt
Instructions
- Trim the kale leaves of their thick stems, then blanch them in boiling water for about 3 minutes.
- Drain the kale leaves in a colander and run them quickly under cold water. Squeeze them dry and chop them roughly.
- Add the blanched kale leaves to the bowl of a food processor, along with the walnuts, garlic and a small pinch of salt. Pulse until you have a rough paste. Now run the processor continuously while you drizzle in enough olive oil to produce a smooth and dense paste.
- Turn the paste out into a small mixing bowl. Mix in the grated cheese. If need be, thin out with more olive oil (or some of the kale cooking water) so you have a very thick but just pourable mixture. The oil should make it glisten.
- Taste and adjust for seasoning.
And you might also like...
Schiacciata all’uva (Tuscan Grape Focaccia)
Fritto misto di mare
Mousse di tonno (Tunafish Mousse)
Petto di vitella alla fornara
Ossobuco di tacchino (Turkey Ossobuco)
Carbonara di carciofi (Artichoke Carbonara)
Troccoli con cime di rapa e cozze
Tiramisù alle fragole (Strawberry Tiramisu)
Baked Clams Oreganata
Tagliata di manzo con rucola e parmigiano
Pasta con zucca e funghi (Pasta with Winter Squash and Mushrooms)
Romeo Salta’s Easter Salad
27 Comments on “Pesto di cavolo nero (Tuscan Kale Pesto)”
Fabulous recipe! Not as soft and light like the classical one with basil and pine nuts, but strong and earthy. The ideas on your website are endless, they will keep me busy for the next couple of months. Thank you!
Thanks so much, Klaus! And welcome. 🙂
I’m with you Frank – a hard no to kale or any versions thereof. It’s cattle feed for heavens’ sake :=) Very clever marketing on the part of farmers to make it so trendy and upmarket 🙂
Ha! I feel the same, though this is one of my few exceptions…
I am not sure whether I have tried Tuscan kale (sounds like I have not), but generally I am quite skeptical about other varieties of kale. let’s be honest – there are much more delicious greens to use fresh in salads. But I agree that once cooked / proceeded, that’s a different story! Kale pesto is something new to me, and it sounds lovely; need to try it!
I couldn’t agree more, Ben… Thanks for the comment!
I’m not a pesto fan (crazy, huh? I love basil, too!) but wondering if I would like this version? Will have to give it a try! Thanks, Frank!
Crazy yes! Maybe this might be your ticket…
Frank, cavolo nero is one of the fresh veggies we get just now, so i’m inspired.
That’s awesome, Ron! Hope you like this.
Who knew you could make pesto out of kale? What an interesting pesto! I love the colour. You have eaten a lot of unusual things, I usually draw the line at bugs (including larvae) and it’s because my reflex would definitely kick in!
It seems that you can make pesto out of just about anything these days! But this one I think is particularly nice. As for bugs, I’m actually not a big fan—I find they mostly texture with not much taste—but I’m willing to try just about anything at least once.
I have enjoyed many a kale salad — but the chef has to know how to prepare it well before serving. Kale needs massaging (seriously) to break it down and make it palatable. I once had a kale salad that was awful. Turned out there was no massage.
I do love Tuscan kale — I especially love making chips with it. But I also, like you, use it in soups and stews. In fact, yesterday, we had it with beans and sausages. (Franks & beans?)
When I saw your post come in, I admit that my first thought was, why bother with kale pesto? But, I trust you, Frank, and so I have added it to next week’s menu.
Well, around here anyway you can find basil in the supermarket this time of year, but it’s both expensive and pretty tasteless, grown in a hot house I suspect. I try to eat seasonally, so in the winter it’s either give up pesto altogether or turn to the occasional seasonal alternative like this one. Plus I get some of that healthy kale in!
We enjoyed this a lot! Very different, so I don’t like to think of it as a replacement of pesto alla genovese. Definitely something we will make again!
Glad you liked it, David!
I look forward to your regular posts anticipating culinary adventures worth taking ! Like Lidia, your roots and approach to cooking lies deeply in the ancestry and memories that you were privileged to have experienced enhanced by your travels and palate for duplicating and enhancing what you liked best ! .I may have missed it but am wondering if you have contemplated memorializing these priceless vignettes and recipes (plus some of the excellent reader suggestions and variations) in book form ? What a great gift to be able to share with Family and friends ! Bravo Frank!
Matteo with Grandparents from Grummo !
Thanks so much, Matteo, for your kind words about the blog. Nice to hear from a fellow descendent of grumensi! Yes, I’ve been lucky to be able to travel far and wide during my life. And of course I had to try all the local specialties!
Indeed I have given thought to putting together a cookbook. I get questions from readers from time to time about it. I guess it’s a question of finding the time. When I was working I said that I’d think about during retirement but now that I am retired, I find I’m still busy with other things. Maybe one day!
Wow! You have me beat! Although I did have guinea pig in Peru, but it wasn’t grilled whole. It was in ravioli! Anyway, I’m not fond of kale either. I just eat spinach. But this pesto is intriguing!
You know, I looked for cuy when I was in Peru but couldn’t find it! I was in Lima on business. They told it was a specialty of northern Peru. But I had had more time I bet I would have found some…
Love all sorts of pestos, though classic basil one is still my favourite.
Still mine, too. But although you can buy hot house basil in the winter, I do like to follow the seasons. So it’s either give up pesto altogether or alternatives like this one.
Love pesto but have simply not thought to use kale – nought against it, fingers simply seem to pick out the other! Have also eaten much unusual far-and-wide and often liked but still have to make friends with grasshoppers and other small insects still in the world of ‘yucksville – I simply can’t’ !!!
Ha! Truth be told, I find insects rather boring eating. Not much taste. Some people do enjoy the crunchy texture. And they’re a good source of protein, so they say…
First, I have to say that I very rarely comment on recipes I haven’t tried, but absolutely will next time I buy some kale.
Unfortunately where I live in a small city in Canada, the stores here do not sell this lovely dark kale. I grew it here a few years ago and it flourished, along with the many bugs that ate it faster than I could. It was amazing the short period of time it took for them to ravage the kale. They had good taste!
Over a decade ago when I lived in southern California for several months, this kale was always available in the grocery store, and it was the only kale I bought.
I’ll have to make the pesto with the regular kale, but I’ll sure it will still be wonderful. Your preference for walnuts is one I also have, and have previously used them in the regular basil pesto.
Thank you for another great recipe Frank!
(Not sure I could stomach some of your exotic choices of food though.:))
This looks delicious – I like cavalo nero, but not so much the other kales. I will pass this on!
I’m still waiting to try rattlesnake and rat, but I have eaten horse, aligator, crocodile, rotten shark, zebra, squirrel, grasshoppers, veal penis, bull’s and sheep’s testicles, etc!
Your adventurous palate and global culinary experiences are truly impressive! From alligator in Florida to grasshopper tacos in Mexico, you’ve explored a wide range of unique and exotic dishes. It’s fascinating to hear about your culinary adventures as awlays. Anyways your recipe for Pesto di Cavolo Nero sounds like a delightful twist on traditional pesto, I like it