Chard pesto – eat your greens

Sitting in back of a car last night looking at pics on my ‘phone with my niece, Charlotte, she says (re above pic): Wow, that looks nice.

Really? I say.

Charlotte enthuses when I tell her what it was: a made-up quick supper dish brimming with health. Thus I am encouraged to share:

Chard pesto for pasta

Traditionally, pesto uses garlic, basil, pine nuts and parmesan. This one replaces the fifth ‘umami‘ (pleasant savoury) taste of parmesan with anchovies. I used Fish4Ever anchovies because they are truly carefully caught and conserved which shows in the taste. And conserved in organic oil a) because organic farming saves the sea by not polluting coastal waters and b) authentic (mechanically not chemically-produced) olive oil.

I replaced the basil usually used in pesto with a pack of freshly-picked organic kale (from Radford Mill Farm shop which by-the-by is having a Frack-free festival in May) – or organic chard on another occasion. You could also use freshly picked nettles.

Then I blended the greens etc with my hand-blender (a £20 kitchen equipment must-have). By blending it into a sauce, it made eating healthy greens into effortless, comfort food.

I poured the green sauce on to a bowl of freshly-cooked pasta. You can use any pasta but I used Sweet potato and buckwheat pasta which is wheat-free (as wheat, an argumentative fellow, rarely agrees with me).

Method

Fry about 4-5 anchovies in their oil so gently they…melt

Fry half an onion sliced, also gently

Add sliced/chopped garlic – as much as you want – I like lots! (and do not overcook so I can have more of garlic’s immune-boosting qualities)

Finally, add a pack of chopped organic greens with (half a cup?) water – enough water so the chard/kale cooks down quickly but is not over-watery. Simmer for 5 minutes or less.

Takes about 15 minutes to cook pesto and pasta at same time (in different pans).

Apologies for my unscientific amounts. As my grandmother used to say when asked for precise amounts in a recipe: “Vifil nemen” = As much as it takes.