A fresh pesto is quick to make and a wonderful condiment to pasta, meat dishes or a cheese plate. There are a wide variety of ways to make a pesto; a green pesto usually requires a source of flavorful greens - basil or wild garlic, nuts, garlic, olive oil and salt. Dates are a great addition in pesto, as they bring a subtle sweetness and add a creamy texture. We've rounded up three of our favorite date pesto recipes here.
Wild garlic date pesto with pine nuts.
Early April is usually the best time for wild garlic! While the sun then gives us almost summer-warm temperatures, the forest and meadows also begin to glow in juicy-fresh green. If you go for a walk these days, you should definitely look out for wild wild garlic. As long as the plants are young and tender, they are perfect for use in the kitchen. At the end of April, they usually start to bear flowers and should then no longer be eaten. Once you've collected some fresh wild garlic, you can quickly and easily turn the whole thing into a fine pesto that adds a great flavor to spring cooking dishes. You'll need the following ingredients for a wild garlic date pesto with pine nuts:
Ingredients for the wild garlic pesto
- 250 g fresh wild garlic
- 50 g pine nuts
- 50 g Parmesan or Grana Padano cheese
- 100 ml olive oil
- 2 - 3 fresh, soft organic dates (e.g. Mazafati, Fankha, Mactoumi, Medjool...)
- 1 pinch of salt (sea salt)
- 1 pinch of pepper
Date pesto: Recipe with wild garlic, walnut and apple
For the second version of our date pesto, we also use wild garlic. However, the nutty component here is not pine nuts, but walnuts. These have a slightly earthier note and also taste wonderful with the wild garlic. In addition, we use an apple in this version. This provides a tart, fruity and refreshing note. Since the apple also has a certain sweetness, we use a little less date here than in the first version:
Ingredients: Wild garlic pesto with walnut and apple
- 250 g fresh wild garlic
- 50 g walnut kernels
- 50 g Parmesan or Grana Padano cheese
- 100 ml olive oil
- 1/2 apple
- 1 fresh, soft organic date
- 1 pinch of salt (sea salt)
- 1 pinch of pepper
Basil date pesto with pistachios
The season for fresh wild garlic is unfortunately quite short. But once wild garlic has faded, it usually doesn't take long for basil to flourish in droves on balconies and in gardens. Unlike the classic basil pesto, which is usually made with pine nuts, however, we use pistachios for this one. These bring again a completely different nut note with itself, which also fits again wonderfully to the fine sweetness of the date. Of course, you are welcome to replace the amount of pistachios in this recipe with another nut or kernel.
Ingredients: Basil pesto with pistachios
- 40 g basil
- 25 g pistachios
- 80 g Parmesan or Grana Padano cheese
- 125 ml olive oil
- 1 fresh, soft organic date
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 pinch of salt (sea salt)
- 1 pinch of pepper
Preparation: How to make date pesto
Variation 1 - Wild garlic date pesto with pine nuts
The preparation of the pesto is quite simple. All the ingredients - i.e. the wild garlic, the pine nuts, the olive oil, the cheese, the dates, salt and pepper - are put in the blender and properly pureed. The dates give the pesto a fine, fruity-sweet note and round off the sharpness, which is present in the fresh wild garlic, pleasantly. Depending on your preference, you can puree the pesto very finely, or leave it a bit coarser. Then season to taste. A little more salt, pepper and olive oil can be added.
Variation 2 - Wild garlic date pesto with walnut and apple
As in the first pesto, simply put all the ingredients in the blender and puree until the desired consistency is reached. If you want, you can also cut the apple into small cubes by hand and then add it at the end. So you have in addition to the fruity-fresh note also a crunchy bite. Again, salt, pepper and oil can be added at the end to taste.
Variation 3 - Basil date pesto with pistachios
Again, we put all our ingredients in the blender and puree once through. Then we season to taste. You can add a little more salt, pepper and olive oil.
TIP: We love to have smaller pieces of nuts and seeds in the pesto. For this, you need to add a few pine nuts, broken walnuts or pistachios to the finished pestos after blending. Makes for a great bite!
Date pesto with an oriental twist
Without fresh greens, but a true flavor explosion is our oriental date cashew spice pesto. With the sweetness of dates, a blend of roasted curry seeds, garlic, ginger and lemon, this version of a date pesto is a delicious addition, especially to meat dishes - from our recipe for Juicy Chicken with Corn Cream and Oriental Date Cashew Pesto.
