Chive Pesto is a bold twist on the traditional pesto. The combination of robust chives and mild spinach results in an aromatic yet not too strong variation.
Lots of Chives
Hello everyone – happy (almost) weekend.
Who loves chives, please raise your hands? While I am not a huge fan of chives (I could eat it occasionally, but that’s not the herb I use a lot in cooking), my husband is. And since Andrew is the one who enjoys gardening, he couldn’t miss it.
If you don’t have chives in your garden, there’s a spoiler alert. It grows insanely fast! Even though it does not expand as much as mint, it’s always a lot of chives. Basically, chives, mint, oregano, and thyme are the only herbs doing extremely well. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for other herbs, including basil and lavender.
Long story short – LOTS of chives means you need to utilize it, right? As I mentioned earlier, I cook with chives, but normally use it as a garnish. So, I didn’t have a choice but come up with something to use a huge bunch of chives. First I made this Potato Chive Soup, and it turned delicious! Still lots of chives left.
Chive Pesto
Then I made this Chive Pesto which turned delightful, too. Indeed, I love unusual pesto twists such as this Dandelion Pesto or this Pistachio Pesto.
Honestly, I was a bit worried that the taste of uncooked chives would be too overpowering and pungent. Luckily, it wasn’t! Of course, you can definitely feel the chives, it’s not subtle as in the mentioned above soup. But it’s strong in a very nice way. Besides I also used spinach and kale that help settle the flavour. The addition of nuts help, too. I used the combination of walnuts and pumpkin seeds, but you can use only one type or even different nuts. Pine nuts, cashews or almonds should work well!
How to Use Chive Pesto?
As any pesto, you can use it in many ways. We enjoyed it with potatoes and as a part of an egg salad. Toasts, wraps, and sandwiches. Or the addition to your veggie salad or even rice.
I hope you like Chive Pesto, and you will give it a try. If you make it, let me know in this post or send me an Instagram message or share you photos adding the hashtag #havocinthekitchen.
Let me wish you a wonderful weekend and please stay tuned as I will return to lilac-infused recipes next week! In a meantime, you can enjoy this fancy Lilac Martini Vermouth Cocktail.
Cheers!
Chive Pesto
Course: Appetizers, Sauce, Condiments8
servings5
minutes10
minutesChive Pesto is a bold twist on the traditional pesto. The combination of robust chives and mild spinach results in an aromatic yet not too strong variation.
Ingredients
1 cup nuts or seeds, toasted (I used walnuts and pumpkin seeds)
1 and 1/2 cups of greens like spinach or kale
medium bunch of chives (about 1 and 1/2 cups chopped, less or more, to taste)
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
~ 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp of lemon juice, or to taste
~ 1/4 tsp salt, or to taste
Directions
- Place all ingredients except the Parmesan into a blender or food processor. Process until smooth. If it’s too thick, slowly add a bit more olive oil or even water.
- Add the Parmesan and continue to blend, until the mixture has a chunky or smooth consistency. For a smooth version, you might need to incorporate more olive oil or water. For a chucky and drier version, you can decrease the amount of oil or use more nuts.
- Refrigerate and eat within 3 days. Enjoy!
Hi – I’m Ben, a blogger, recipe developer, and food photographer. I’m glad you’re here! I hope you will enjoy hundreds of delicious recipes and a pinch of havoc in the kitchen.
I want to make chive pesto which I loves to eat with sandwich, egg salad and so on. Then I started searching recipe on internet. I read your article and applied your recipe for making this amazing chive pesto and made the best chive pesto for my favorite snacks. My entire family members praised your chive pesto recipe. Thanks for sharing this superb recipe!
Another creative creation Ben, I think I would love this so much compared to the traditional pesto, the flavour of chives for is great for a sauce like this
Thank you Raymund!
I adore pesto and I like chives too. I can imagine this giving a great punch of flavour in a grilled cheese sandwich. So delicious.
Thank you Marie!
Yes, with grilled chees4e it would be great!
I absolutely love chives! We have some growing here in the yard, and we’re lucky that they come back each year – it’s one of the few things that does come back. However, I’ve never tried chive pesto – what a fun idea! Also, sorry to hear about your lavender plant…
David @ Spiced recently posted…Coca Cola Pound Cake
Your bunnies don’t like chives, eh? :) Thank you David!
i love chives and this pesto looks the business. i find them very mild, so am wondering if you’re referring to garlic chives? the pepitas look very cute on top. definitely no kale for me; it’s the devil’s work :-) it’s cow feed, people!!
sherry recently posted…Pistachio And Orange Blossom Water Shortbreads
Thank you Sherry!
Hum, good question. Nope I think we have regular chives. No garlic flavour, either.
The mild taste comes from combining the chives with other greens like kale, arugula, etc. Not a huge fan of kale myself, but it was just available as the combination with arugula this time :) Totally, you could use any other greens like spinach (for mild) or arugula (for peppery, more robust) pesto!
This is delicious! I used the flowers (which are edible) for a garnish over the pesto when I put it on pasta–it looked so beautiful! The blossoms and chive flower buds are also damn good in biscuits.
I’ve never used chive flowers for a garnish indeed (Need to try), but they are so pretty, right?
Thank you Janis!
I have never tried chives but I know I am going to love this pesto.
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Thank you very much!
I think I’m a lot like you: I use chives as a garnish, and am then challeneged to figure out what to do with the remainder. Recipes like this are the heart and soul of home cooking, I think. Figuring out what to do with ingredients on hand can be quite challenging! Thanks for the marvelous idea!
Eh, exactly. But as of today, I’ve been able to utilize almost all the chives from our garden :) Thank you Jeff!
We just planted another half dozen chive plants in our yard last weekend because we love them so much. So I know we’d love this riff on classic pesto. Definitely a must try recipe!
Have a wonderful weekend, Ben!
Thank you Marissa!
I grow chives on my balcony; two pots to be precise. This is an excellent way to use them with pepitas and greens. Keeper, definitely !
2pots2cook recently posted…Raspberry Fudge Brownies
That’s great – thank you!
I love chives and have been using them a lot last few weeks. The pesto is for sure a staple in our house. Yours with pepitas and walnuts looks excellent, Ben.
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Thank you Angie!