Swiss Chard and Pecan Pesto

If you wish to keep all of the enzymes intact, skip the sauté process and blend the ingredients raw. This gives it a slightly chewier texture but you get the benefits of all the extra nutrients that might be lost during the cooking. Tip: instead of putting the pesto in a jar simply drop tablespoons of it into an ice cube tray and freeze. When frozen dump them into a baggy and just remove what you need or vacuum seal a couple of cubes at a time.

Very good, added almonds with the pecans as I didn’t have enough pecans

If pesto can be made with Swiss chard then I will assume that collard greens, kale, dandelion greens, or mustard greens could be used in place of chard. It would be interesting to use a combination of greens with fresh basil and the other usual ingredients.

I made this recipe as written. it’s only early June and we have a ton of Swiss chard in our garden. I actually enjoyed this recipe better than a traditional pesto recipe that I have. I used it in a creamy pesto sauce recipe that I found on this site. if you’re inundated with chard like us try it! I may make some and freeze it in one cup portions

This is really good. I followed some suggestions and sauteed the garlic and swiss chard stems before adding and wilting the leaves, but I used pine nuts, not pecans, and will cut back on the salt. I think my parmesan was somewhat salty. I also doubled the swiss chard; what a great way to use it up. I will for sure make this again next summer with all my chard and basil!

I loved this recipe and was a great way to use up some swiss chard from the garden! I actually did half pine nuts and half pecans since I had both on hand. I also added a combination of freshly ground romano cheese and parmesan. I used white pepper instead of black. Absolutely loved it!

I love this pesto! I have so much Swiss chard in my garden that I’ve made 6 batches so far – it’s the best use of all this delicious chard that I can think of. Following the recipe exactly, I found Swiss chard stem fibres in my pesto (which I thought detracted from the finished product esthetically). I’d recommend three small changes to the recipe. First, cook the Swiss chard stems & garlic first, until softened… then add the leaves and cook until wilted. Second, the recipe needs a bit more salt, about 1.5 tsp was just about right. It makes a big difference after it’s mixed into the pasta. Finally, I recommend changing the blending order. Begin by blending the 1/2 cup olive oil with the cooked Swiss Chard/garlic mixture. Blend until smooth. THEN add the remaining ingredients to the blender. Blend at a medium speed so that the pesto maintains a slightly course texture. Immediately after blending, before the pesto discolors, I spoon the pesto into two ice cube trays and freeze. It thaws beautifully. It’s delicious on pasta and I can’t wait to try it on garlic toast, chicken, fish and whatever else I can imagine… all winter!

Followed the recipe exactly and it’s absolutely delicious!

This is dynamite. It’s a great way to use the Swiss chard from the csa. I went a little heavier on the lemon juice, and it definitely needed salt and pepper. I also put some into smaller plastic jars to freeze… Great way to make summer last longer.

Great recipe – I substituted walnuts for the pecans and skipped the Parmesan cheese (family member has am allergy)

This is so good we can it by itself! I doubled the recipe so I could freeze and save some and added a whole half of lemon (the rind is the best part!) Thanks for sharing!

Hands down this is my kids’ favorite thing I make. Great on pasta, pizza, or garlic bread.

This is the perfect recipe for my family. Hubby and I both enjoy the flavor of chard, but don’t like the texture of cooked greens. I’ve made quite a few delicious chard recipes, but all had that “slimy” texture, so neither of us were excited about eating any of them despite the good taste. This recipe eliminates the texture problem. I love basil pesto; hubby thinks it is only so-so. He likes this chard-basil pesto better than regular. This is my new go-to recipe every time I get chard in the CSA box.

This pesto was wonderful! We put it on pizza and we were delighted!!! Thanks for a great new pesto recipe

Very explosive flavor – I added an additional clove of garlic and used pecorino romano cheese and used some of the pasta water to mix it with the pasta. I also sauteed the stems of the swiss chard first until they were softened before adding the leaves. I like their bitter flavor. It was aboslutely outstanding. Thanks for the recipe!

Nice way to use up extra chard.

Great with walnuts too if you don’t have pecans on hand.

That was really YUMMY! Thankyou so much for sharing. My kids really liked it too.

I followed the recipe exactly and found that it needed more olive oil – mine came out a little too thick at first. But other than that, it is a perfect recipe! It tastes wonderful and swiss chard is so good for you! THANK YOU!

I think this was a great recipe. We toasted the pecans first though. and instead of sauteeing, we blanched the basil and swiss chard so it would retain a brighter color.

Not as good as traditional pesto but a good way to use up Swiss Chard from my garden. I was going to give 3 stars but didn’t have pecans so used walnuts so wanted to be fair.