Beet leaf pesto

A recipe from cooking-ez.com

For 250 g, you will need:

• 1 50 g walnuts
• 2 150 g beet tops
• 3 1 lemon
• 4 50 g Parmesan (Parmigiano Reggiano)
• 5 2 pinches vitamin C (optional)
• 6 olive oil
• 7 salt
• 8 pepper
• Total weight: 380 grams

Times:

Preparation	Cooking	Start to finish
15 min.	5 min.	20 min.

Step by step recipe

1	Place 50 g walnuts in a small frying pan over medium heat...
2	...and roast them, stirring regularly. Note: You can also put them in the oven, but it's a shame to start your oven for such a small quantity. Set aside and leave to cool.
3	Wash then spin-dry 150 g beet tops, keeping only the leaves.
4	Place the leaves in a food processor, sprinkle with half the 1 lemon juice, and blend for a few seconds. If necessary, process the beet leaves in batches - we just want to reduce their volume a little.
5	Add the rest of the lemon juice, the zest of half the lemon, the walnuts, 2 pinches vitamin C if necessary (to avoid oxidation and keep a nice color), salt, pepper and a little olive oil.
6	Blend again, drizzling in more olive oil until smooth. Check the seasoning and your pesto is ready.
7	Place in a jar, pour a film of oil over the top, close tightly and store in the fridge.

Remarks

We don't use the stems, just the leaves, so there's no need to blanch.
The proportions are only indicative, so feel free to adapt them to the beet tops you have and your own taste.

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