Category: Sauces

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.

When autumn comes I am usually overrun with ripe tomatoes from my garden, and looking for ways to preserve them beyond basic drying and canning. This bit of jam adds a bright spot to winter entertaining, and you will be glad of the time invested to create it. The jewel-toned jam is at it’s best on a crisp cracker with cheese. 

• 5 pounds ripe tomatoes, any variety
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest
• 6 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, finely minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 5 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon coriander, ground and toasted

Blanch the tomatoes until their skin splits, then peel and cut in half on their “equator”.

Place a strainer over a bowl and lightly squeeze the seeds and juice into the strainer. Coarsely chop the tomatoes and place them into a large saucepan, with the reserved juice.

Add lemon zest, lemon juice, ginger, and salt. Bring to a boil and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes are soft (about 15 minutes).

Stir in the sugar, increase the heat to medium-high and cook the jam, stirring constantly. Continue to boil the jam until it reaches 220°F.

Stir in the coriander and remove from the heat.

Pour into sterilized half-pint jars, wipe the rims clean, place lids and rings on the jars and process in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes.

yield: about 6 half-pints

prep time: about 2 hours

Adapted by Jane Blaisdell. Original recipe obtained from Chef Wendy Jordan.