Quick and Simple Pasta Pronto! Swiss Chard and Walnut Pesto Recipe
Quick and Simple Pasta Pronto!
Swiss Chard and Walnut Pesto Recipe
Quick and Simple Pasta Pronto! Swiss Chard and Walnut Pesto Recipe
Pasta, that easy to prepare mid-week meal, or a weekend indulgence with wine and maybe half an acre of garlic bread – it comes in many guises and it’s astonishing to think that we only really embraced this “foreign” ingredient about forty to forty-five years ago. Many an Italian wine bar during the 1960’s made its fortune from bowls of spaghetti Bolognese with a bottle of Chianti – and after the wine was finished, the straw clad bottle became an iconic candle holder! And, do you remember the Great Spaghetti Harvest spoof? It was before I was born, but I have seen the film footage many times – it was an April Fools Day prank as broadcast by BBC’s Panorama programme in 1957, and remains the BIGGEST spoofs in television history! The hoax Panorama programme, narrated by distinguished broadcaster Richard Dimbleby, featured a family from Ticino in Switzerland carrying out their annual spaghetti harvest…….It showed women carefully plucking strands of spaghetti from a tree and laying them in the sun to dry, and my parents told me that it fooled thousands of viewers! You can still see the programme on YouTube here: Panorama – April Fool’s Day Hoax – Spaghetti Harvest – 1st April 1957.
Spaghetti Harvest – April Fools Day 1957
It was probably easy to fool a post-war Britain, where pasta was almost unheard of and “meat with two veg” was the most popular fare, as served at the British supper table; it is a wonderful reminder of a simpler and more innocent time, where olive oil was bought at Boots the Chemist and tea, not wine, was drunk with dinner or supper! I remember going to school in the 1970′ and telling my friends that mum had cooked “Lasagne” for tea, a dish that had never been heard of at that time in deepest Cornwall; it appeared that my mum was very “risque” and right up to current food trends even then, and I had to give my friends a blow-by-blow account of what it consisted of, and how she made it! (All that pre-cooking of huge sheets of pasta, no pre-cooked lasagne sheets in those days) The next trend to hit British shores was Pesto – and I remember the first meal where Pesto Pasta was on the menu, I thought I had died and gone to heaven when I tasted it! It was in a little Café Bistro in Hereford, not a Chianti bottle in sight, and a HUGE plain white bowl appeared with home-made pasta with the most divine sauce I had ever tasted…….needless to say I was a convert.
Quick and Simple Pasta Pronto! Swiss Chard and Walnut Pesto Recipe
The classic Genovese pesto is made with blanched basil leaves, pine nuts, olive oil, Pecorino and Parmesan cheeses as well as the ubiquitous garlic. Pesto comes in all guises now, there’s sun-dried tomato pesto, mint pesto, as well as a Calabrian pesto made with bell peppers and lots of black pepper. The name “pesto” means to pound or crush in the local Genoese dialect, and has been adopted as a generic name for all types of this style sauce nowadays. My pesto has NO herbs in it at all and it is a veritable vegetable delight! It tastes divine, take my word for it, and makes good use of that “veg box” favourite, Swiss chard. I used my own home-grown walnuts for the “nut element” and a mixture of Grana Padano and Parmesan cheese. I added a good swig of extra virgin olive oil and a goodly amount of fresh garlic and I was very pleased with the results. I served this with some “squid ink” pasta, and some extra pan-fried chard for a delightful luncheon dish the other day.
Quick and Simple Pasta Pronto! Swiss Chard and Walnut Pesto Recipe
As this pasta meal was made with my home-made pesto, I am entering it in to Jac’s Pasta Please challenge which this month is being hosted by Jen and where the theme is……….Home-made Pesto! I plan to make this pesto again, as it was truly delicious and I added the rest to a vegetable soup the next day, which worked brilliantly. If squid ink pasta is not your thing, then of course you can use this Swiss Chard and Walnut Pesto with any pasta of your choice, and I am planning to use it as the sauce on home-made pizza next time I make one……with some prawns or calamari maybe. That’s all for now, see you later with a new fish recipe, and some classic baking recipes too. Not long to the weekend now, and don’t forget that it’s Easter next week – it’s very early this year. I hope you enjoy this pesto sauce if you make it, bye for now, Karen
Swiss Chard and Walnut Pesto
Swiss Chard and Walnut Pesto
Print recipe
| Serves | 12 servings |
| Prep time | 5 minutes |
| Cook time | 10 minutes |
| Total time | 15 minutes |
| Allergy | Tree Nuts |
| Dietary | Vegetarian |
| Meal type | Appetizer, Condiment, Lunch, Main Dish, Side Dish, Snack, Starter |
| Misc | Child Friendly, Freezable, Pre-preparable, Serve Hot |
| Occasion | Barbecue, Birthday Party, Casual Party, Christmas, Easter, Formal Party, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Valentines day |
| Region | Italian |
| By author | Karen S Burns-Booth |
Ingredients
- 25g butter
- bunch of Swiss chard (about 250g to 300g)
- 3 to 4 cloves garlic (peeled)
- 50g walnuts (toasted)
- 100g freshly grated Parmesan cheese (or Grana Padano cheese)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- salt and black pepper
Note
A delectable and easy pesto sauce made with the "Veg Box" seasonal favourite, Swiss Chard! This pesto sauce makes great use of Swiss chard and is a great way to get the family to eat "hidden" greens and vegetables! Mix with freshly cooked pasta, use as a marinade or rub for meat, poultry and fish; also great as a pizza sauce.
Directions
| Step 1 | Wash the chard thoroughly and trim the ends off the white stalks. Chop the chard roughly, separating the green leaves from the white stalks. |
| Step 2 | Melt the butter in a large saucepan (with lid) and add the garlic and white chard stalks, then replace the lid and sweat over a medium heat for 5 to 6 minutes. After 5 to 6 minutes, add the (green) chard leaves and cook for a further 2 to 3 minutes, until the chard leaves have wilted. |
| Step 3 | Place the cooked chard(leaves and stalks), garlic, walnuts, Parmesan cheese and olive oil into a blender, and pulse the ingredients until they are finely chopped and look like pesto sauce. Alternatively, pulse them all together with an immersion blender, until smooth. |
| Step 4 | Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Store the pesto in a covered container in the fridge for up to 4 days and use with pasta, grilled meat and fish or as a pizza topping. |
| Step 5 | NB: Can be frozen in individual portions of an ice cube tray, or in zip lock bags or old margarine containers. |
| Step 6 | Can be frozen in small pots or in individual portions in a ice cube tray. |
Quick and Simple Pasta Pronto! Swiss Chard and Walnut Pesto Recipe
Squid Ink Pasta
Quick and Simple Pasta Pronto! Swiss Chard and Walnut Pesto Recipe
Katharine says
I love that spaghetti harvest spoof, so well done and so funny! Gorgeous pesto, such wonderful original flavours and I’m extremely envious of your home-grown walnuts!
Karen Booth says
It is SO funny isn’t it Katharine! Thanks very much for your lovely comments! Karen
Dominic says
how incredible is that green pesto!?!.. I love ‘garden pesto’s’ they’re so wonderful…. and your black pasta is fab too… what a lovely spring-like post, so full of colour and joy (if Spring ever comes along!) much love xx
Karen Booth says
Thanks Dom! This chard pesto was a revelation actually, so tasty!
Agnieszka Jarecka-Griffiths says
Pesto is such an amazing and simple thing, isn’t it. I used it with pasta, in soups, on sandwiches, with roasted veg and even with rice and veg especially when the inspiration left me 🙂
Karen Booth says
Thanks Agnieszka – it is such a versatile ingredient!
torviewtoronto says
pesto looks fabulous
Karen Booth says
It was LOVELY! Karen
Vohn says
Yum pesto – can’t beat it. Thanks for the link to the spaghetti harvest – I’d heard the story but never seen the actual video before – genius. Thank goodness they were finally able to wipe out the spaghetti weevil! Vohn x
Karen Booth says
The film for the spaghetti harvest is a BBC classic and so funny! Karen
Maya Russell says
I have definitely got to try this recipe as pesto and pasta is such a quick meal for the kids.
Karen Booth says
Thanks Maya!
Tracy Nixon says
Great recipe! Shared via G+ Thanks!
Karen Booth says
Thanks Tracy!
Louisa says
Oh I’m loving the Spaghetti Spoof, I’ve never heard of it but what a wonderful story! Being a fellow homemade pesto addict I was strangely also wondering lately when it was that pesto hit our shelves and restaurants…..was it the early 90s or even earlier? I know I was blown away by it, but unlike you have no memory of when or where that was!! Chard is about the only version I have yet to try, must make.
Karen Booth says
LOL! Isn’t it funny Louisa?! I thought you might like this, as you are a bit of a home-made pesto queen, with so many lovely recipes on your blog! 🙂 Karen PS: I think you are right, it was in the early 90’s that Pesto hit the UK shores!
Rachel K @MarmadukeS says
I love The Great Spaghetti Harvest spoof – it’s an absolute hoot! It lived on for years. One of my uncles told my brother and I that parmesan and gorgonzola cheese was made from old socks, and I am not sure that we didn’t believe him!
I love your chard pesto. It has inspired me to have a go with my red chard, though I am pretty sure that because of it’s multi-coloured leaves that it won’t be as pretty as yours, but bound to taste good!
Karen Booth says
I remember my grandfather telling me that those very same cheeses were made from old socks too Rachel!!!
DO have a go with your red chard and let me know if it works, I am sure it will.
Karen
Fiona Matters says
What a great idea! I love pesto but haven’t had it in just ages. I would never have thought of making it myself though. Thanks for the recipe.
Karen Booth says
It’s easy to make and I am sure you could whizz it up in a trice Fiona!
Elly says
I really love the idea of this. So fresh and healthy looking. I don’t have a definitive ‘go-to’ recipe for Swiss chard, but now I think I might have found one!
Karen Booth says
Do give it a go Elly, it is easy to make and so tasty!
Lisa Williams says
This looks so great you out do yourself again and again 🙂
Lisa Williams says
I am so intrigued by the squid ink pasta 🙂
Karen Booth says
Thanks Lisa, the squid ink pasta was lovely, sort of slightly salty, but not unpleasant at all!
Lisa Williams says
I have always wanted to try it is it hard to find ?
Kathryn says
What a great version of pesto – two of my favourite flavours in combination!
Karen Booth says
Thanks Kathryn! I was pretty pleased with the recipe! Karen 🙂
Tracy Nixon says
Enjoyed this on Saturday – thank you!
Tracy Nixon says
Very nice thank you!
Jen Harris says
nice to have a pesto recipe ty x
Paul Wilson says
What a great shade of green!
Tracy Nixon says
I have shared on Twitter
ashleigh says
I love pesto and so do my kids – this recipe looks lovely!
Deborah Wheeler says
What a great alternative to the usual pesto – I love walnuts so will have to check out the local supermarket for the swiss chard and give it a go
Kevin Dooley says
This looks amazing, will check out chard asap!
Janet Rumley says
Think you’ve found a recipe that both my children will enjoy – will try it out during their holidays. Thanks.
Jen @ BlueKitchenBakes says
As a child of the 80’s it’s quite hard to get my head around the fact that pasta was seen as a weird foreign food not all that long before I was born as I grew up eating it on a regular basis. I love the little history of pasta in the UK and I can only imagine how people reacted to your Mum’s lasagne!
Thanks so much for this delicious sounding entry to Pasta Please, I’m feeling envious of your walnut tree!
Maya Russell says
Shared on Twitter as @maisietoo – https://twitter.com/maisietoo/status/319654537793249280
Lisa Williams says
I wish they would do an april fools like the spaghetti tree again 🙂
Maya Russell says
Home made pesto really is the best. Thanks for the recipe. Have shared with G+.
Jon says
Did you make the ink pasta or buy it?
Karen Burns-Booth says
Hi Jon, this was bought ink pasta, Karen