Spring Obsession Chive Pesto

By Laura Killingbeck

Spring is a time of wild obsessions. The sun starts to shine brighter and flowers pop up out of nothingness.  The color, fragrance, and flavors of fresh spring herbs capture our attention with a new intensity. It’s a delight to walk through the farm and see life springing forward. 

This year we had an enormous abundance of obsession-worthy chives. These were planted years ago on the old Sid Wainer Farm which we purchased in 2020 and now call Everbearing Farm.  By late April, the chive leaves were full and tender, with a delicately piquant flavor. We chopped them into salads, blended them into dressings, and sprinkled them over food as a dried spice. We also ate them by the gallon as pesto. 

The muse for this pesto is the chives themselves—full of sweet sunshine, and a fleeting, fragrant, sharpness. It makes a great incentive to grow more chives!

So far in 2021, Round the Bend has donated 175 pounds of chives to The Westport Food Bank and over 800 pounds to the Daily Table.

Spring Obsession Chive Pesto

Ingredients:

6-8 cups chives, rough chopped

½ cup pumpkin seeds, toasted

½ cup lemon juice

1 cup safflower oil

2 tbsp honey

2 tsp sea salt

2 tbsp powdered garlic

Instructions:

Put all the ingredients except the chives in a food processor and blend until smooth. Add the chives and continue to blend 1-2 minutes, or until fully incorporated. Store in a glass jar and refrigerate. Keeps about one week.

We use this chive pesto on just about everything! It’s great as a sandwich spread, mixed with pasta, as a veggie or chip dip, or added as a topping to egg dishes or casseroles. Some people say it’s addictive! 

Variations:

Double the quantity of toasted pumpkin seeds to give this pesto a creamy, spreadable consistency and richer flavor.