Chard based pesto recipe (vegan)

Probably most people think of basil when they hear the word pesto. I used to think that too- at least when it comes to the green variety of pesto. But a few years ago, I learned that pesto can be made from nearly every green (that fits the flavour profile). So that means that even if basil isn't available where you live, or outrageously expensive, it's still possible to make your own pesto from scratch! 

Where I live there isn't really much convenience foods, processed foods and ready made condiments. Most convenience foods that are available are quite expensive. That makes making your own a necessity; and not just cooking the meals you eat, but also condiments you'd use for flavouring up a dish. Even though I already made quite a lot of foods from scratch, before I moved here I never made pesto myself. I just bought the small jars of green pesto at a cheap grocery store or from a generic brand at the bigger grocery stores. They were good, but I'll admit-- homemade pesto really is next level, taste wise. That's another benefit of making your own things from scratch. Homemade foods really cannot be compared to the stuff being sold in the stores. To make the them last longer or taste better, the food industry usually adds ingredients that certainly don't belong there, such as sugar and hydrogenated oils etc. So moving here defenitely made me even more active in the kitchen, because we didn't want to miss out on certain foods that we were used to. 

Homemade pesto is kind of tricky though, because it uses a variety of ingredients that can be quite expensive, at least where I live. Pine nuts, for example, as well as cheese. And cashews are even more expensive than pine nuts. That brings me back to the beginning of this post, because I thought that pesto was a basil-based condiment. I'm yet to find basil here; only dried basil is sold in the supermarket. (If I'd ever go back to my home country to visit family, I'll defenitely bring some seeds to grow my own!) 

So basically, I made a LOT of substitutions. So much so that there's hardly any ingredients that could be found in the commonly known pesto- I was even a bit hesitant to call it pesto even. But then I remembered that an online friend of mine who is from Italy, makes pest with about every green. And I hope I'll be forgiven when I substitute the nuts AND cheese. Yes, no cheese so this pesto is 100% plant based. But we don't really miss a cheesy flavour, and this way it saves us loads of money. (I sometimes make my own grain-based cheese if I happen to have that on hand I'll use that but this time, I didn't have it and it takes about 2 weeks to make. There was a lot of chard in my fridge that really needed to be used up quickly, so no time for waiting two weeks for making cheese!) I read that during lean financial times, some Italians use bread crumbs instead of cheese. While I always have homemade bread crumbs on hand, I think that oat is an even better replacement because of the creamy flavour it naturally has. And oat will also absorb more liquids, which I like, because homemade pesto tends to be a bit more liquid than the store bought version. 

Chard based pesto 

4 bunches of chard (or just guesstimate; my two bunches filled up a big colander when washed and chopped) 

Two lemons (the zest and the juice), preferably organic

Two tablespoons of dried basil and oregano 

Four tablespoons of ground almonds 

Four tablespoons of sesame seeds, cress seeds or flax seeds 

2/3 cup of coarsely ground oatmeal 

1/2 cup of olive oil 

Salt to taste and white or black pepper (optional)

Two tablespoons of tomato paste 

Devide all the ingredients in half: I made two batches with these ingredients, only half of the ingredients fit in my food processor. To make the pesto, just fill your food processor (or a heavy duty blender) with the ingredients, blend until fine and you're done. Then repeat with the next batch (or just use half of the ingredients if you only want to make one batch). If you're not tight on money or you simply want to stick to a more traditional recipe, feel free to use cheese, cashews and/or pine nuts!

This pesto obviously doesn't last as long as the store bought pesto. So unless you're planning to use it right away, or within a few days, to avoid wasting food, I'd suggest you freeze it. I don't always use a lot of pesto at the same time so I freeze it in very small amounts, using silicone muffin moulds. After they're completely frozen I transfer them into a container. You could also use very small containers, which is what I sometimes do as well. Or even in ice cubes.