Minoo made a Swiss Chard Pesto in the Gilmore Park Church Community Kitchen. Minoo participated in one of the Richmond Sharing Farm program where you made a one time payment per year for the harvest from the sharing farm. From the month of July to September (about 10 to 12 weeks), participants will receive a weekly harvest from the sharing farm. Here is a sample of the weekly harvest in the box. She decided to share with us how to make Swiss Chard Pesto from the harvest she received from the sharing farm. Pesto can be frozen for later use.
Minoo served the Swiss Chard Pesto on some crusty baguette. You can have them on crackers or as a dip with some homemade tortilla chips.
Ingredients
- Olive oil (1/2 cup plus more)
- 3 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
- 1 bunch Swiss chard (about 2 cups chopped leaves)
- 1 cup walnuts
- 2 ounces feta cheese
- 1 bunch of basil leaves, wash, remove leaves and pat dry
- salt and pepper to taste
Source: Minoo
Instructions
 Remove leaves from Swiss chard stem. You can keep the stem to make vegetable stock.
Stack a few leaves together, roll up and slice. |
 Heat two tablespoons of oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add garlic and saute until fragrant.
Add the Swiss chard and saute for a few minutes until wilted. Set aside to cool. |
 Combine the walnuts, cream cheese, basil leaves and the cooled Swiss chard and garlic in a food processor.
Season with salt and pepper to taste. |
 Pulse to roughly chop the combine ingredients.
Slowly stream in olive oil (about 1/2 cup or more) while blending to your desired consistency. Adjust seasoning if necessary. |
 To freeze the pesto, fill an ice cube tray with leftover pesto and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Once the pesto cubes have frozen, they can be transferred to a ziplock bag and kept for a few months. |