TL/DR – Pesto with Fennel and Radishes. Basil pesto, add lemon zest. Toss with sautéed fennel, radishes, garlic, white wine & lemon juice… and pasta, of course. Super easy vegetarian weeknight meal. –
Pesto has always been a favorite of mine. It’s a versatile sauce. It works with with parsley and oregano, spinach or even kale. (The best kale pesto comes from Dr. Andrew Weil’s True Food cookbook.) Switch up the nuts and cheese in pesto, too. Walnuts are great and so is Romano cheese.
One of the biggest a-ha moments I’ve experienced in the kitchen is that radishes don’t have to be raw. What?! Pesto with Fennel and Radishes is a great way to do something new with flavors and textures that are delicious. Adding lemon zest to basil pesto is a great, too.
If you don’t like the garlicky-ness of pesto, roughly chop and blanch the garlic in boiling water for a minute or two before adding it to the food processor. That way the flavor is still strong, but it’s not so overwhelming that it infiltrates your dreams. Pesto dreams are weird.
Sauté radishes and fennel in olive oil, then add garlic. Add lemon juice and white wine, allow to cook off and toss in freshly boiled pasta and the pesto sauce.
Give Parsley Pesto a try, too!
Pesto with Fennel and Radishes
Ingredients
- 2 c basil leaves, packed
- 1/4 c pine nuts
- 1 clove garlic, roughly chopped and blanched 2 min.
- 1/4 c grated parmesan
- zest of one lemon
- 1/2 c extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 t kosher salt (more to taste)
- 1/4 t black pepper
- 1 T extra virgin olive oil
- 1 bulb fennel, halved and thinly sliced
- 7 - 10 radishes, thinly sliced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1/4 c white wine - pinot grigio preferred
- 1 lb. pasta
Directions
- Step 1 Set a large pot of water to boil on the stove.
- Step 2 For the pesto, place the first 8 ingredients (basil through pepper) into a food processor and process until smooth.
- Step 3 If doing this step ahead, cover and refrigerate. Otherwise, set aside.
- Step 4 Once water boils, add pasta and cook according to package directions. Reserve 1/3 cup pasta water.
- Step 5 Meanwhile, heat the additional 1 T extra virgin olive oil in a large skillet on medium high heat.
- Step 6 Add the fennel and radishes and cook for 3 minutes.
- Step 7 Add garlic and cook for one more minute.
- Step 8 Add white wine and lemon juice and allow to cook until mostly evaporated.
- Step 9 Turn the heat to low and stir in the pesto sauce.
- Step 10 Add reserved pasta water as needed to loosen the sauce up.
- Step 11 Turn off the heat under the sauce.
- Step 12 When pasta is cooked, drain and add to skillet and toss gently with the pesto, fennel and radishes.
