I promise there IS a recipe at the end of the tunnel, but before we get there I want to take you on a journey of greens. Ever since I moved to France, I have always eyed the radishes at the market: gorgeous deep pinks of all shapes. I wanted to be the kind of person who casually bought radishes on a regular basis and enjoyed them. But if I'm being really honest, I just don't think they taste very good. Sure, they can add a nice crunch and bitterness to a salad, but so can fennel or carrot, and I think those add a much nicer flavor.
When I went grocery shopping this weekend, however, I don't know what came over me. Maybe I was just in a giddy mood seeing all our neighborhood shops open for the first time after nearly two months of quarantine, and by the time I got to the produce market those cute little pink buggers were just too much for me. I caved. I even did a little watercolor of them. I'm a new me. I am determined to be a radish-lover.
As I admired my adorable root vegetables I noticed they had a very healthy looking head of leaves and started wondering if they were edible. The internet told me that yes, they were edible, but a bite told me meh, they are edible if you are very hungry. Nevertheless I couldn't bear the thought of throwing them away, so I decided, much to my own surprise, to make them into a pesto. I have always rolled my eyes at the sight of such nonsense as arugula walnut or kale pesto, the Italian purist in me utterly revolted at such hipster blasphemy. So before you yell at me for betraying my roots (plant pun), let me just say: this post is not about replacing basil pesto. I still maintain that nothing can beat fresh pesto alla Genovese, an example of Italian simplicity at its finest. But our little windowsill plant simply cannot produce enough basil for the amount of pesto I wanted to make, and my goal was to find a use for the radish tops.
What I really want to share with you here is a way to make the most of the foods you buy in a delicious way. In the spirit of minimizing food waste (and getting more bang for your buck!), here are some other greens you probably didn't know you could eat:
Carrot tops (sauté with garlic or add to vegetable broth)
Beetroot stems & leaves (substitute for spinach or chard)
Celery leaves (flavorful herb for salads)
Cauliflower stalks & leaves (roast until crispy)
Turnip tops (cook until wilted, sort of like kale)
Any extra bits of vegetables that you don't feel like eating on their own can be collected in a freezer bag to use for vegetable broth. And of course, if it's green and edible*, you can make probably pesto out of it. My advice is to taste it raw so you know what elements you need to balance, and mix it with other more palatable greens if you have them. For example, radish greens are a bit bitter, so I added more pine nuts than I would to a basil pesto so that the creaminess would balance the kick of the greens. I also added a little lemon zest to brighten the earthiness of it, and if I made it into a salad dressing I would definitely add a generous amount of lemon juice as well.
*Make sure you do some research before eating greens for the first time to make sure they are in fact edible! Don't eat rhubarb leaves. I'm not trying to poison you.
The recipe below is certainly not an exact science. My one bunch of radish greens made much more than what one pizza required, so I plan to spread the leftovers on sandwiches, make a pesto vinaigrette, or maybe even cook them into an omelet. Use the greens you have and adjust the other quantities accordingly. Let us know in the comments what other creative pestos you come up with!
Ingredients
Feel free to substitute other greens for the radish tops, leave out the arugula and/or basil, and add whatever greens and herbs you prefer/have on hand! This makes a thick pesto which was perfect to spread on pizza, but if using on pasta I would add more olive oil and even a bit of lemon juice.
For the pesto:
Leafy tops of a bunch of fresh radishes
2 handfuls of arugula
Small handful of basil (or as much as you are willing to sacrifice from your basil plant)
40 g (just over 1/4 cup) pine nuts
1-2 cloves of garlic
30 g or more of grated cheese (parmesan, pecorino, or ideally a mixture of both)
1 tsp fresh lemon zest
3-4 tbsp olive oil
Sea salt
For the pizza:
Pizza dough (don't get mad at me for cheating, stores are all out of yeast!)
Pesto
1 ball of fresh mozzarella
Cherry tomatoes - about 12-15, or a small container
Small piece of zucchini or summer squash (optional - I happened to have about a 1/3 of a zucchini left so I added it, but I think it's a nice touch regardless)
Small handful of semolina (optional)
Sprinkle of pine nuts
Steps
For the pesto:
I use a combination of the traditional mortar and pestle method plus a food processor because I think grinding the pine nuts gives it a creaminess you don't otherwise get, but I think the food processor gets the greens to a finer consistency. However, you can use a mortar and pestle for the whole thing or just throw everything in the food processor depending on your equipment, time, and patience.
Gently but thoroughly wash greens and dry well. If using a salad spinner, gently rinse the basil separately. Coarsely chop all greens and set aside.
Use a mortar and pestle to pound the pine nuts into a paste. Then add one clove of garlic and mash to incorporate. There should be no distinct pieces.
Nonna's version: If you are not using a food processor, you can add the greens a bit at a time with some coarse salt and grind as finely as you can until fully broken down. Taste and add the second clove of garlic if desired. Emma's version: If you are using a food processor, add greens with a little salt to the food processor and grind until broken down almost to a sauce-like consistency. Add the pine nut-garlic paste and blitz until just combined. Taste and add the second garlic clove if desired.
Remove the blade from the food processor or add everything to a new bowl. Stir in cheese and olive oil until you have a thick pesto. Taste and adjust as necessary. TIP: If you are using it for pizza, it will be easier to spread if you leave it nice and thick. If you are using it for pasta, you will want to add more olive oil to thin it out and maybe even a bit of fresh-squeezed lemon juice.
For the pizza:
Preheat oven to its maximum temperature and, if your pizza dough has been in the refrigerator, let it sit out about 30 minutes before using. Prepare a baking sheet or rectangular pan with a sheet of parchment paper with semolina sprinkled on top if you have it.
Cut cherry tomatoes in half, careful not to squeeze them. If they are soft, you may want to leave them whole to preserve the juice. Slice zucchini thinly into rounds. Cut or tear mozzarella into pieces.
On a lightly floured surface and with floured hands, use your knuckles to gently stretch dough out to your desired shape.
Slather pesto evenly over dough, leaving a thin border along the edges. I like a thick enough layer of pesto that you can't see the dough through it (but I generally like to be punched in the face with flavor, so you do you).
Distribute the zucchini as evenly as you can, then the mozzarella, and finally the cherry tomatoes (it doesn't matter if they are cut side up or down). Sprinkle some pine nuts on top and pop in the oven.
Bake for around 15 minutes, checking at the 12 minute mark. It is done when the crust is golden, the tomatoes are wrinkled, and the cheese is bubbling. At the very end I like to flip on the broil function for 30 seconds to a minute just to char the tomatoes, but this is optional and not advisable if the cheese is already significantly browned.
If you want my very subjective advice, serve hot but eat leftovers cold for lunch the next day.
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