Kale Pesto - Easy 5 Minute Recipe | WhitneyBond.com (2024)

FAQs

How do you get the bitterness out of kale pesto? ›

If the kale pesto tastes bitter, add 1/4 teaspoon maple syrup or honey to balance it.

Use it as a topping for roasted or baked potatoes. Spread it on sandwiches. Pesto's creamy texture and earthy taste make it the perfect condiment for your favorite panini or a vegan grilled cheese sandwich made with Trader Joe's Vegan Brioche. Drizzle it on pizza.

PESTO SHOULD NEVER BE “COOKED”. If you cook Pesto Sauce, you change the make up of the fresh basil and cause it to turn darker in color. It is best to warm it up and use it at room temperature. If it needs to be thinned out, you can do so by adding a little water, chicken stock, cream or white wine.

Acid in the form of vinegar or citrus juices can make a pesto taste less bitter and could even enhance the flavour of the sauce at the same time. In low concentrations, salt can be used to suppress bitterness, which is why people have been adding tiny amounts to coffee for decades. Always go easy to start with.

Adding salt and squeezing lemon make a big difference by removing bitterness. Adding some spicy or sweet flavors may help tame the strong flavor of bitter kale.

The most common reason for pesto tasting bitter is that the olive oil is past its best and has started to turn rancid. If the pesto has been made in a food processor or blender, there's also the possibility that it has turned bitter from the crude, sheering action of the blades.

Almost all the jarred pestos you find in the supermarket will have been pasteurised to not only ensure that they can last a long time unopened, but so they are perfectly safe to eat straight from the jar. There is no need to heat pesto, although too many people do.

The reason is because pesto is designed to be a raw sauce. Cooks and manufacturers go to great lengths to preserve the freshness of the ingredients, so heating up your pesto just destroys all that hard work. This is not to say pesto must be eaten cold.

Most likely because Pesto is made with a lot of Olive oil. Even though Olive oil is healthy, taking in a lot of liquid fat at one time can commonly cause an upset stomach in many people. Eating it with bread, to help slow the oil from passing into your system, might help.

Adding a small amount of acidity (lemon juice or vinegar) and balancing that with a little sweetness (sugar or honey) is the best way to take the edge off a pesto that tastes overwhelmingly of garlic. Almost every cuisine on earth makes use of garlic, and it's a vital component in pesto.

How long does pesto last in the fridge? ›

Pesto will last in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. If you've stored it in the freezer, it will last for 6 months. When you're ready to use frozen pesto, thaw it overnight in the fridge or place the container of pesto in a bowl of warm water for a quicker thawing time.

And wouldn't you know, cilantro happens to naturally share a chemical that is also used during soapmaking. So, for those of us who have a certain gene cluster, we find those chemicals to be very assertive, hence the soapy flavors coming through.

For Kale That Tastes Better—Not Bitter—Rinse it Twice. Washing your leaves before and after prepping them makes all the difference.

It has a slightly bitter taste, but that can be resolved with adding a little acid, like lemon juice. Swiss chard is generally served cooked, as the leaves brighten nicely when sautéed in a bit of oil.

As for what we do recommend, our go-to method to tone down the excessive garlicky taste of pesto is to add a little acidity and sweetness. Acid (normally in the form of lemon juice or vinegar) denatures allicin, the source of garlic's spiciness.

Raw kale is fibrous, bitter and can be tough to chew. Blanching it helps soften its fibers and bitterness while making it easier to chew. You definitely don't always have to blanch kale.