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So I have lots of silverbeet plants. I'm guessing about 30 or so. Not quite sure how that happened. But I found a rough recipe for silverbeet pesto today, so I've made tat tonight and wow is it yum. Can't wait to turn it into a meal.
Here's how I made it
A stockpot full of silverbeet minus the stalks, then wilt them
Put into a blender with
About half a lemon of lemon juice, thnk ma have used a whole one and then some. It was a generous squeeze from the lemon bottle.
2T olive oil
Salt and pepper (and lemon juice lol) to taste
20grms of Parmesan cheese (or 40ish for a nut free version)
Large handful of walnuts (which I couldn't use as we are a nut free household, so I just added more Parmesan cheese)

Then blend it all up.

Even got the thumbs up from he kids. So I've frozen it down into meal size.


We quite often buy a jar of pesto and mix it last into a chicken stir fry and cooked penne pasta (with extra cheese added). It's one of the kids favourites for dinner, so hopefully my pesto version is a similar hit.

I had to Google Silverbeet LOL . It sounds delicious and definitely something worth trying when it's in season as it's quite cheap. Interesting though that you use walnuts (well would if you weren't nut-free) vs pine nuts which I thought was the more typical to use in a pesto?

Friends used to make rocket pesto which was also quite yummy

Pesto, any sort, is a good dip for a Euro style ploughman's lunch.

Try it on a baguette with loadsa butter, grilled herring or sardines or Toulouse sausage, ham, and various cheeses, plus some salad for the healthy kick.

Ok, I'm curious now, what do you all silverbeet? I know capsicum/pepper, courgette/zucchini, eggplant/aubergine

I think the receipe had walnuts to add an extra strong flavor into it.

We had it for dinner tonight and it was all eaten up! With not a single complaint!! Needs bit of salt and pepper though. It does need something else in it, it doesn't taste that cheesy even though there was lots in it. It needs a sharp flavor. Any suggestions for maybe a spice?

Silverbeet (from what I gathered) is chard over here; looks like spinach but different coloured stalks

Weka wrote:It needs a sharp flavor. Any suggestions for maybe a spice?

How about heating a clove or a cardamom (or both) in the oil and then leaving it to cool before removing them and using it as normal, or what about capers or maybe a few mint leaves?