“It was a lovely, pleasantly warm sunny day. I was enjoying my time in the garden, examining the fast-growing plants and herbs, admiring all those vivid blossoms of tulips and daffodils, watering them while listening to the tireless singing of birds… ah, the beautiful springtime!”

And then I woke up.

Looking through the window, I was greeted by dancing snowflakes. Oh, not agaaain… Sigh. It’s mid-March, for crying out loud. When am I going to plant anything in the garden?

Then I remembered my dreams and sighed again. The weather has been improving during the last couple of weeks and my thoughts have been focusing on the garden planning. I could almost see the sprouts peeking out of soil, and smell the aromatic basil leaves… oh, basil. It’s been on my mind for weeks now. Needless to say, I’m desiring to make some good old pesto Genovese. That will, as it unfortunately seems, have to wait. And it might take longer than we thought: the meteorologists say this spring is going to be rather chilly. There you have it.

* * * * *

I found this bunch of organic radishes (see the 1st photo) at the market place yesterday. It looked so cute and fresh, perfect for nibbling or for garnishing my morning bread slice. But, did you know the radish greens are edible, too??

It dawned on me while biting into the 2nd radish – that I had read somewhere about radish greens pesto. Thanks to my Akregator, I found that post almost immediately: it was Nicky of delicious days who wrote about it last year. The decision was made within seconds: pasta with radish greens pesto would make my lunch today.

I did not weigh the ingredients for pesto. I used 1 whole bunch of greens which was just enough for one serving (90g of pasta). Furthermore, I made this pesto with extra virgin olive oil despite the polyphenol issue (emulsifying the olive oil in a food processor turns the pesto somewhat bitter) and the overpowering olive oil aroma – no problem for me since I adore olive oil. Besides, with 30 liters of best quality Spanish extra virgin oil in the pantry, it doesn’t even occur to me to buy other oil right now.

OK, so we’ve got radish greens, olive oil, a clove of garlic, couple of tablespoons lightly toasted sunflower seeds (cooled), couple of tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. For an extra kick I added a teaspoon grated lemon peel – and then 10 seconds in the blender (I was too impatient to taste it, otherwise I would have used the mortar and pestle) and voilà – my pesto was ready. The taste? Divine. Comforting. I could have even omitted the salt – the Parmesan itself gives out enough saltiness (but that’s just my opinion). Loved the spiciness. I will be making it again. Definitely!

Related posts:

1. Winter dishes (V)
2. Lunching on a warm salad
3. Chives
4. Dandelion revisited
5. Tomate frito revisited