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Makes
2 cups Winter Greens Gremolata (half of which you can extend into Winter Greens Pesto)
Author Notes
In this recipe, I play with Classic Gremolata by adding dinosaur kale, arugula, capers, and lots of anchovies. With a few simple additions, I extend half of the Winter Greens Gremolata into Winter Greens Pesto. The uses for both Gremolata (on cabbage salad, with roasted vegetables, as a topping for fish) and Pesto (on pasta, in potato pancakes, on sandwiches, in omelets, as a topping for lamb chops) are endless. And both freeze beautifully! Feel free to use any kind of winter greens here (just stick with the green ones because purple pesto isn't very appetizing). —Phyllis Grant
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Ingredients
- Winter Greens Gremolata
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1 bunch
arugula
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1 bunch
Italian parsley
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1 bunch
dinosaur kale
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1 tablespoon
kosher salt, for the blanching water
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6
anchovy fillets
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6
garlic cloves, peeled
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3 tablespoons
lemon juice
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1 tablespoon
lemon zest
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2 tablespoons
capers (drained of brine)
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2 teaspoons
white wine or champagne vinegar
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1/2 cup
extra virgin olive oil
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Kosher salt, to taste
- Winter Greens Pesto
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1 cup
Winter Greens Gremolata
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1/2 cup
blanched almonds, lightly toasted
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1/2 cup
goat cheese (fresh, not aged)
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1/2 cup
parmesan, finely grated
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1/2 cup
extra virgin olive oil
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Kosher salt, to taste
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Lemon juice. to taste
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White wine vinegar, to taste
Directions
- Winter Greens Gremolata
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Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Wash arugula, parsley, and kale (no need to dry them). Trim off any large stems. Add salt to water and turn down to a simmer. Toss in the kale. Blanch for five minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove kale with tongs and place in a colander over a large bowl. Using the same water, blanch parsley and arugula for only one minute. With tongs, remove second batch of greens and add to draining kale. Allow all greens to cool for a few minutes. Form greens into a ball and squeeze out most of the liquid. Place in food processor.
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With a mortar and pestle, bash anchovy and garlic to a paste. Into the food processor, add anchovy/garlic paste, lemon juice/zest, capers, vinegar, and olive oil. Pulverize the heck out of it for 30 seconds. Taste for balance and texture. Add salt, more lemon juice, or vinegar as needed. Pulverize more if texture is too coarse.
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You can keep it in a jar in the fridge with a thin layer of olive oil on top (just know that it won't be vibrant green by the next day). Or you can freeze it in a jar or in an ice cube tray. It stays green and beautiful when you freeze it. Thaw for an hour or so at room temperature before using.
- Winter Greens Pesto
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If you're extending some of the Gremolata into pesto, leave 1 cup of Gremolata in the food processor. Add warm nuts, goat cheese, parmesan, and olive oil. Taste. It will probably need more salt. Maybe a bit more acid like lemon or vinegar.
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Keeps for a few days in the fridge in a jar with a thin layer of olive oil on top of the pesto. Alternatively, you can freeze it in a jar or in an ice cube tray for easy access. Thaw by leaving it out room at temperature for an hour or so.
Phyllis Grant is an IACP finalist for Personal Essays/Memoir Writing and a three-time
Saveur Food Blog Awards finalist for her blog,
Dash and Bella. Her essays and recipes have been published in a dozen anthologies and cookbooks including
Best Food Writing 2015 and
2016. Her work has been featured both in print and online for various outlets, including
Oprah, The New York Times, Food52, Saveur, The Huffington Post, Time Magazine, The San Francisco Chronicle, Tasting Table and
Salon. Her memoir with recipes,
Everything Is Out of Control, is coming out April 2020 from Farrar Straus & Giroux. She lives in Berkeley, California with her husband and two children.
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