Each spring when the dandelions begin to show their yellow heads, I take my trowel in hand and gather as many as I can. This pesto is lovely on warm pasta, or as the base sauce for a pizza.
- 4 cups, packed, dandelion greens
- 1 cup, packed, mild greens, such as beet greens, spinach, or kale
- 4 cloves garlic, sliced
- ¼ cup toasted walnuts
- 4 – 5 dried tomato halves
- ½ cup grated parmesan or Romano cheese (if you are planning to freeze the pesto, add this when you thaw it.)
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Blanch all of the greens: Bring a large pot of water to a boil, toss in the greens, cook for a couple of minutes, until the greens are bright green and wilted. Drain the greens through a colander and run cool water over them to stop the cooking. This process will mellow the flavor of the dandelions and retain a bright green color.
- Place greens, garlic, walnuts, dried tomatoes, and cheese in the bowl of a food processor and process the mixture until it is well chopped.
- While the processor is running, slowly drizzle the olive oil into the bowl. Add more oil if the pesto is too thick.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Extra pesto can be frozen for several months.
Preparation time 30 minutes (not including the picking and rinsing of the dandelions plants)
Yield: about 2 cups
Copyright 2017, Jane Blaisdell, Original recipe.
made simply, by jane 