Kale Pesto Babka
Kale is a winter garden staple for us and I love working it into dishes in unexpected ways. It’s so versatile, but I prefer eating it cooked as opposed to in a salad (unless it’s this Kale Caesar). If I do eat it raw, I like to sneak it into smoothies, pancakes, or pesto.
For this kale pesto, I used only what I had readily available in the pantry and it turned out fabulously. It would be great on pasta, on traditional garlic bread, with shrimp, or really just eaten with a spoon. I chose to put it into some Babka because I’ve been dying to try making it, and have a brunch event coming up that I’m hosting where this dish will be perfect. With pesto, you can be playful. I used two nuts that I had on hand, and I usually just eyeball the amount of cheese and garlic I add. You can interchange parmesan and pecorino in my opinion as well.
Now, for the babka. Babka is really fancy looking, but honestly so easy to make. If you have a stand mixer then you don’t even really knead it (although I LOVE kneading bread, because hello zen) and the hardest part of the situation is waiting for the bread to rise. The recipe I used says to wait about 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size. I had to wait about 2.5 hours, checking on it every 15 minutes of course because I have zero chill about bread rising.
Once it was ready though, it was smooth sailing. The braiding is really simple, so don’t let that intimidate you. The end result was my husband absolutely freaking out over how pretty it was and how delicious it was, letting me know that if it were up to him, we would have fresh baked bread every day. Ummm we’ll work on that hunny. Don’t hold your breath.
If you want to attempt this kale pesto babka, here are the details:
Kale Pesto
INGREDIENTS
1 cup kale
2 cloves garlic
2 Tablespoons pine nuts
2 Tablespoons walnuts
⅓ cup parmesan cheese
¼ cup olive oil + 2 tablespoons
Teaspoon salt
Teaspoon pepper
Juice from 1 lemon
INSTRUCTIONS
Use a food processor to pulse the kale, garlic, and nuts until tiny crumbles. Add in cheese and pulse until combined. Drizzle oil in, as you pulse the mixer, watching until you get the consistency you prefer. Add salt and pepper and lemon to taste – add more if needed.
Babka
I used this The Kitchn Recipe, but replaced their filling for mine. Do not forget the egg wash and salt – it really makes all the difference.
Note: this bread is enjoyed best when fresh, but keeps well for about two days. It could easily be made the night before a morning/brunch event if necessary.