I am always looking for ways to make use of what some may consider scraps. So when the blue-eyed boy at the farmers market asks if I want the greens cut off my leeks or spring onions, I always wince at the thought that those flavorful green bits will come to naught.

A pang of self-congratulation always washes over me when I find uses for parmesan rinds, parsley stems and other overlooked culinary real estate. But it never even occurred to me to wonder if those lovely wasted radish leaves were edible until I stumbled on Clotilde’s recipe for radish leaf pesto the other day.

Now everyone knows that basil is not the only leafy green that makes a decent pesto, which tastes great whether you’re using pea shoots, arugula, mint, garlic scapes or even broccoli. But the idea of using radish leaves caught me by surprise.

Radish leaves have a mild and pleasant taste that lacks the bite of peppery radishes.
I have since learned that radish leaves can be used in soups, stir-fries or even sparingly in salads. (Make sure to choose radishes with green, healthy, vibrant-looking leaves and wash and dry them like salad greens before using.)

Clotilde used pistachios and pecorino, but I made a batch with what I had on hand — almonds and parmesan. The pesto was verdant and satisfying, less perfumy than the basil-based variety. It was delicious thinned with a bit of pasta water on whole wheat spaghetti, perked up with some fresh halved cherry tomatoes thrown in at the last minute.

And while we waited for the spaghetti water to boil, we sipped a dry rosé and spread pesto on slices of toasted baguette, topped those with some crumbled fresh goat cheese and finished it off with a scattering of thinly sliced radishes for a bright, delicious radish-on-radish start to the meal.

Merci, Clotilde!

Posted by kristin in recipes, other people's food | | Subscribe to this feed