I decided to buy kale this past week. Admittedly, I have never really given it much of a chance. In fact, only one recipe appears on The Veg Life! using kale thus far and that was my Harvest Salad with Pumpkin Vinaigrette. So I thought it was time to give it another go and was contemplating making kale chips. When that didn’t happen, I had to come up with something to use it in so it didn’t go to waste. And then I turned it into pesto!

This Kale Pesto Pasta uses few ingredients. Aside from the kale, I added garlic, walnuts, olive oil, vegan parmesan, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

I began by trimming the stems of the kale and thoroughly washing in a salad spinner. You want it really dry. Then I began pulsing the kale a few times to break it down a bit and make some room to add the remaining ingredients. Everything goes in together except the oil. I drizzle that in last as the processor is running so that I can gauge how much I need. I’ll also be using some of the starchy pasta water to thin it out later on.

I used spaghetti here, but you could use any pasta you have on hand. I first tossed the pesto with the pasta to see if I needed additional liquid. I only needed a couple of tablespoons of pasta water and it was just perfect! You can top with more of the vegan parmesan or using a microplane, grate the walnuts. If you can’t find (or don’t want to use) the vegan parmesan, you can use nutritional yeast or omit all together.

I honestly wasn’t to sure how I’d like the kale pesto, but it was really good. I thought it had more of a broccoli taste this way which I am totally ok with 🙂 Serve with a lemon wedge and enjoy!

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