Beet Green Pesto

Martin’s recipe for beet quiche was met with, “Oh crap, we ate the leftover beets already.” So, when I saw some beautiful beets at the store on Saturday, I grabbed them. The organic golden beets had a large bunch of greens attached, so I cut them off and hit Google to find a beet green recipe. I found a few recipes for beet green pesto, so I decided to make my own with what I had lying around. Here is what I came up with, which is quite tasty. So go out and buy beets, cut off the greens, roast the beets (do not boil them), make Martin’s quiche and use the uncooked greens for pesto. Flavor is sharper and earthier than Basil pesto, without the sweetness. I will experiment with different uses.

One large bunch beet greens, stems removed and thicker ribs removed, wash carefully to remove grit and allow to dry.
1/2 teaspoons salt or to taste
4 garlic cloves - less if you are one of those weirdos who hates garlic
1 ounce cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup grated parmigiana cheese - more if you like
2 tbs vinegar (apple cider, white wine or rice) or lemon juice
Olive oil to reach the consistency you like - exact amount depends on how many greens and personal preference. 1/4-1/2 cup should do it.

  1. Put garlic cloves into food processor and chop them up
  2. Heat iron fry pan and toast the sunflower seeds with the salt, stirring constantly, until they start to get darker. They are done when they are starting to get crunchy.
  3. Put greens into food processor with garlic and process until greens are about the size of lima beans.
  4. Add sunflower seeds with salt and cheese. Process until the size of split peas.
  5. While doing step 4, add vinegar
  6. Gradually drizzle in the olive oil while continuing to process so it integrates. I do not like my pesto to be a smooth sauce, but if you do, keep processing until it reaches that stage. If not, stop earlier like I did - I like a little texture.