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I got two bunches of radishes at the market on Saturday, and I knew that if I left the greens on the radishes, the whole bunch would go bad in a day or two. (Unfortunately, I know this from experience. An experience that involved tough, stringy, squishy radishes that no one should ever have to eat.) I figured that I should at least use the greens pretty quickly, because according to the great and almighty interwebz:

“Save the young thinnings of both summer and winter radishes. They are delicious with tops and bottoms intact. Both summer and winter radishes store well in the refrigerator once the tops have been removed. The radish leaves cause moisture and nutrient loss during storage. Store greens separately for 2-3 days. Refrigerate radishes wrapped in plastic bags for 5 to 7 days. Winter radish varieties can be stored for up to two weeks in the refrigerator.”

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In order to prepare the radish greens, I cut the tops off the radishes and rinsed them under cold water. Then I carefully went through the greens and spread out the usable leaves onto a large kitchen towel, discarding any moldy or wilted radish leaves in the process. I laid out another kitchen towel onto the leaves and then lightly pressed the towel into the leaves in order to dry them.

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Having never had radish greens before, I ended up really really liking this pesto. It doesn’t taste like cheese, or olive oil, or pine nuts – just fresh greens, sweet spring-like flavors with no bitterness. Personally, I like my pesto with not that much oil and not that much cheese… mostly because I like to eat it most on pasta, and who isn’t going to add more cheese to the pasta? Because cheese is awesome. Duh.

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Radish Greens Pesto

From The Kitchenette

Makes 3 cups

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Gather:
2 bunches radishes, leaves separated from radishes and picked over, washed and dried, radishes reserved for later use
1/2 cup pine nuts
extra virgin olive oil
1 cup fresh grated parmigiano-reggiano

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Prepare:
Wash and dry greens.  Add pine nuts to a dry skillet (dry = no oil in the pan). Heat the nuts over medium heat for approximately 5 minutes, or until the nuts become light brown out the outside; do not let them burn.

Add dry radish greens and toasted pine nuts to a food processor. Add olive oil through the chute of the food processor as it runs, until the pesto reaches your preferred consistency. Scrape pesto into a bowl, and add parmiagiano-reggiano. Stir to combine.

In advance: To freeze, scrape pesto in 2 tablespoon-portions into ice cube trays. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze until solid. Remove pesto cubes from tray and store in a plastic bag in the freezer for up to a year. Or, store pesto in the refrigerator covered with a thin layer of olive oil (the olive oil layer prevents browning of the pesto during storage).

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Now Playing: Luna is Honey / Who Wouldn’t

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