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Beet leaf pesto

Name: Beet leaf pesto
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 250 g
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 50 g walnuts; 150 g beet tops; 1 lemon; 50 g Parmesan (Parmigiano Reggiano); 2 pinches vitamin C; Olive oil; Salt; Pepper

Here's a pesto recipe made with beet leaves, where the pine nuts are replaced by roasted walnuts.

The result is a highly original pesto, with an astonishing pinkish-green color and a delicious little bitterness.

18 K 5/5 (1 reviews)227238

Duration

20 min.

Difficulty

Easy

Last modified on: June 4^th 2025

Step by step recipe Ingredients Duration Nutritional facts Cost Comments

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 for this recipe

Preparation

15 min.

Cooking

5 min.

All in all

20 min.

Preparation 15 min.

Cooking 5 min.

When should you start or finish this recipe?

If you start now, at , you will finish around : ?.Change start time

To finish around 7pm, you'll need to have started before: .Change end time

Step by step recipe

Stage 1 - ⌛ 1 min.

Place 50 g walnuts in a small frying pan over medium heat...

Stage 2 - ⌛ 5 min.

...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.

Stage 3 - ⌛ 5 min.

Wash then spin-dry 150 g beet tops, keeping only the leaves.

Stage 4 - ⌛ 1 min.

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.

Stage 5 - ⌛ 2 min.

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.

Stage 6 - ⌛ 3 min.

Blend again, drizzling in more olive oil until smooth.

Check the seasoning and your pesto is ready.

Stage 7 - ⌛ 3 min.

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.

Keeping: Several days in a closed jar in the fridge.

Source: Home made.

Nutritional information

	Proteins	Carbohydrates	Fats	Calories	Energy
Per 100 g	8 g RDI=13 %	7 g RDI=3 %	11 g RDI=15 %	152 kcal RDI=8 %	637 kJ RDI=8 %
Whole recipe	32 g RDI=49 %	26 g RDI=10 %	42 g RDI=58 %	578 kcal RDI=29 %	2,422 kJ RDI=29 %