You are here: Home > Recipes > Swiss Chard Pesto Recipe

Swiss Chard Recipe

Swiss Chard Pesto

This recipe is a variation on a traditional Egyptian dish.

It includes the addition of toasted pine nuts and parmesan, to give more breadth to the flavour. If you'd rather cook just the traditional dish, see Variations.

This is a useful way to sneakily hide chard from a fussy eater!

Try it out, see what you think, and then rate it! Pass on your comments for the rest of us.

Note: this recipe can be useful for using up a glut of Swiss Chard. You can keep the pesto in the fridge for up to 3 days - or you can freeze it in small pots.

	Ingredients
	Use as a pasta sauce, or add at the last minute to give extra flavour to a stew. 1 knob butter 2 tbsp of olive oil 2 cloves of garlic Bunch of Swiss chard (about 300g) - any variety Handful (about 50g) pine nuts 100g fresh parmesan or pecorino cheese, grated Handful of fresh coriander leaves

Method

Wash the chard thoroughly and shake to dry.
Melt the butter in a saucepan with the olive oil. Peel and chop the garlic and saute for 2 minutes.
Chop the chard stems and add them to the pan. Stir and then cook, covered, for 5 minutes.
Roughly chop the chard leaves and add them to the pan. Cook for another 3 minutes.
Toast the pine nuts for a couple of minutes (either under a pre-heated grill or in a dry pan)

Turn off the heat under the chard. Add the coriander leaves, pine nuts and parmesan.
Puree the mixture until it looks like pesto.

Time From Cupboard-To-Table

About 15 minutes.

Notes & Variations

You can omit the pine nuts and parmesan, if you don't like them.

This recipe is a really useful way of persuading kids to eat chard. If they like pesto, they'll like this.

The finished pesto will keep in an airtight jar in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Veg Box Recipes Newsletter

Make sure you always stay up-to-date with our latest seasonal hints, tips and recipes. Plus exclusive discounts and competitions from ethical companies.

And it's free!

Subscribe now

Ratings & Reviews

Rating	Comments
10/10	This tastes really good and is a lovely shade of green. It's also very versatile, great with rice, baked potatoes, mash, fish, roasted vegetables, in stuffed vegetables and even as a dip. It benefits from a quick squeeze of lemon juice. It's good seasoned with salt and pepper and maybe paprika or cayenne. It's also worth experimenting with adding different herbs, the traditional basil makes a fine pesto with it.
9/10	great way to use up lots of chard
9/10	great recipe tastes really fresh and yummy agree with adding lemon juice brings all the other flavours together
7/10	Great idea - however, I think it works better with untoasted pine nuts and basil rather than coriander (at least for my family with their traditional tastes!)
9/10	I was out of coriander, so just made the rest of the recipe without it and was still quite flavorful! This recipe doesn't do much to show off the flavor of the chard itself, but the chard does make eating all those nuts and cheese feel healthier ;-)
8/10	tastes great - but what do you do with the two cloves of garlic?? Reply: Problem fixed - thanks! Clare
10/10	Very nice. Didn't bother toasting pine nuts, and used basil instead of coriander. Also added some sauteed mushrooms in with the pasta afterwards. Great use for chard!
10/10	lovee chards
9/10	Very nice and easy! Didn't bother toasting pine nuts, and used basil instead of coriander.
8/10	Wonderful way to use chard - a first for my family. Loved the cilantro too! Wouldn't bother toasting pine nuts and would allow the chard/cilanto mixture to cool next time before adding cheese since it became quite sticky and a bit harder to blend into pasta. Nice addition to my vegetarian recipe files!

Rate It!

Have you tried this recipe? Tell us what you think of it.

Find more recipes

Swiss Chard Recipes

	Autumn Pizza Don't be put off making your own pizza by thinking it's complicated - it's actually really simple. This one uses autumn veg box ingredients to make a delicious topping.
	Kale Pesto Pasta This is a brilliant way of sneaking kale past fussy eaters. The garlic helps reduce the bitterness of the kale and the pine nuts add a sweet, nutty flavour. It also works well with spinach, chard or black nero cabbage.
	Spinach And Potato Curry If you've got some spare spinach and fancy a filling evening meal, this one is easy to make. It's similar to the Indian Sag Aloo. It also works well with Swiss chard, instead of spinach.
	Watercress, Spinach & Goats' Cheese Salad I invented this recipe one lunchtime when we were all craving salad – in the depths of winter. The warm goats’ cheese and delicious dressing makes this salad a filling winter or springtime treat. You can also use kale, chard or beetroot leaves.
	Kale And Roquefort Parcels If you’ve got an excess of kale and a household that’s close to being fed up of eating it, here’s a recipe that should inspire them again. Or see the variations for ideas with chard or spinach.
	Spring Vegetable Quinoa Quinoa (pronounced “keen-wa”) is a South American “grain” – actually a seed. It’s considered by many to be a super-food, because of the balance of proteins it contains. It's easy to cook and delicious.
	Spinach Gnocchi Bake Spinach and Gruyere cheese make a delicious combination in this gnocchi bake. If you don't have spinach, it also works well with kale or chard.
	Porcini Mushroom And Spinach Quiche This quiche is great with dried porcini mushrooms. nd it’s a great way to use up spare spinach. Or, if you prefer, you can substitute Swiss Chard.
	Spinach, Blue Cheese & Pine Nut Lasagne This is an amazingly delicious recipe for spinach lasagne. We kept going back for more. It takes a little effort, so you might want to make double and freeze half for another day - if it lasts that long! Also works well with Swiss chard or kale.
	Swiss Chard and Sesame Stir Fry This lovely Swiss Chard recipe turned my hubby from dreading chard in our veg box to loving it! Easy to make, very colourful (if you use rainbow chard) and good for you, too, with a wonderful sweetness and a savoury crunch. Also works well with spinach.

Back to recipe index

Pesto Recipes

Kale Pesto Pasta
This is a brilliant way of sneaking kale past fussy eaters. The garlic helps reduce the bitterness of the kale and the pine nuts add a sweet, nutty flavour. It also works well with spinach, chard or black nero cabbage.