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Beet leaf pesto

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.

1,590 5/5 (1 reviews)

20 min.

Easy

1.70 €

250 g

8 Ingredients

Last modified on: June 4^th 2025

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For 250 g, you will need:

1 ¼ cup walnuts
2 ¹⁄₃ cup beet tops
3 1 lemon
4 ¼ cup Parmesan (Parmigiano Reggiano)
5 2 pinches vitamin C (optional)
6 olive oil
7 salt
8 pepper

Change these quantities to make:

125 g 250 g 500 g 750 g

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Times for this recipe

Preparation: 15 min.

Cooking: 5 min.

All in all: 20 min.

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Step by step recipe

Stage 1 - 1 min.

Place ¼ cup 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 ¹⁄₃ cup 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 (gr)	Carbohydrates (gr)	Fats (gr)	Energy value (in k-calories)	Energy value (in k-joules)
Whole recipe	30 RDI=10 %	30 RDI=3 %	40 RDI=6 %	580 RDI=30 %	2,420 RDI: 30 %
Per 100 g	8 RDI=3 %	7 RDI=1 %	10 RDI=2 %	150 RDI=8 %	640 RDI: 8 %

The % figures are calculated in relation to the Recommended Dietary Intake , or RDI of 2,000 k-calories (or 8,400 k-joules) per day for a woman Change to a man

Possible allergens in this recipe: Nuts, Milk

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