Grænkálspestó

Kale pesto

In other countries, kale is a typical winter vegetable. It is often said that kale should only be harvested after the first frost. Kale doesn't actually need frost to convert starch into sugar; generally low temperatures are enough. Ripe kale contains hardly any starch that could be converted, but continues to produce glucose through photosynthesis. And “generally low temperatures” are not a problem in Iceland, where the low temperatures often exist all summer long.

Here in Iceland, kale grows outdoors and thrives particularly well. The harvest time is usually from July to December and the kale can then be bought fresh in the supermarket. Since there are not that many vegetables here that can grow without geothermal energy, kale is used in a variety of ways in Icelandic cuisine, for example fresh in salads, smoothies or juices, cooked in soups, fried as a side dish or casseroles. There are also kale chips - and they are also very suitable for fresh pesto.

Kale is also good for a healthy diet - like most types of cabbage, it is rich in vitamins, minerals, fiber and protein. It even ranks first among cabbage varieties in terms of its content of vitamins B, E and K, calcium, folic acid and iron. It also contains a number of phytochemicals that regulate cholesterol and blood sugar levels and strengthen the immune system.

Ingredients

100 g fresh kale

3 Tbsp fresh basil

60 g pine nuts

30 g parmesan

1 pinch of garlic powder

1 pinch of fresh pepper

1 pinch of coarse sea salt

80 ml rapeseed oil

Preparation

Wash the kale and basil.

Remove the stem from the kale and pick the basil leaves and cut everything into small pieces.

Place the kale and basil in a tall container, add the pine nuts, parmesan, garlic powder and pepper, pour the rapeseed oil over it and puree everything thoroughly with the blender.

If necessary, add a little more rapeseed oil and mix until the desired consistency is reached.

Finally, season with salt and pepper to taste. Be careful with the salt as the parmesan cheese is already quite salty.

We had the kale pesto as a side dish with the grilled meat and on buttered rye bread (rúgbrauð), both of which were very tasty!

[Translated from here.]