I made this pesto when summer produce was in its full glory. Eggplants, zucchini, tomatoes and radishes dazzled in farmers markets and grocery stores. These “French Breakfast” variety of radishes were everywhere. In the grocery store, they were marked as “Rose”, which made sense because they did look like a lovely bouquet of roses from afar. A deep red making way for a pink blush before turning white at the tip of the root. The French way to eat it was most commonly by making a slit in the radish, stuffing it with a little chilled butter and sprinkling it with fluer de sel.
I was initially hesitant. Drawn to their unbelievably pretty looks but hanging back with memories of pungent radishes from the past, I ultimately caved in and bought a bunch. To my utter delight when I took a small bite with much trepidation, I discovered a very mild, crisp radish without the pungent bite. I was a convert!
I began to look at different ways to use these. So we had radish tzatziki, radish raita, radish sambar …..I even contemplated radish kheer but abandoned that idea. I felt really guilty throwing away the beautiful greens though. In a small kitchen with very limited resources, I could not go completely crazy. With some help from Google, I came upon a pesto recipe which I have loosely adapted. Try this the next time you are staring at some fresh radish greens. This pesto has a bit of a peppery bite and is great tossed with pasta, as a sandwich spread and a dip.The recipe is also very forgiving and you can play around with the herbs and nuts.
Radish Greens Pesto
3 large handfuls of radish leaves
1 handful of flat leaf parsley or a mixture of herbs
1 small clove garlic
1/3 cup of olive oil
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup of roasted almonds (you can substitute with walnuts, pine nuts, pumpkin seeds etc.)
1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese
salt and black pepper to taste
Put everything, except the olive oil in the food processor and pulse. Do not add any water.
With the food processor running, slowly add the olive oil. When everything is mixed, add the parmesan and pulse it once or twice.
Keeps in the refrigerator for about 10 days or can be frozen for a month.
