Spring Chives = Chive Pesto!

Spring has finally sprung here in Jefferson, Maine. The first herbs to appear in my herb garden are chives. I love chives- I love their color, their mild onion taste; and I especially like snipped fresh chives on my scrambled eggs. They also make a terrific pesto. I had some eggplant tortellini in my freezer. These tortellini are handmade by Venda Ravioli at Constantino's Italian Market in Providence, Rhode Island. The last time I went down to Providence to see my son, I loaded up my traveling freezer bag with Venda Ravioli pastas. They are fabulous. The eggplant tortellinis is my favorite. When you are in Providence, be sure to go to Federal Hill and check out the Italian restaurants and markets. And of course, foodies must pay a visit to Constantino's Market! http://www.vendaravioli.com/

Usually I eyeball my pesto whenever I make it. This time I decided to measure the ingredients so I could share this recipe with my friends. Chive pesto is very light and flavorful and I purposefully leave out the garlic so as not to overpower the chive mild onion flavor. This pesto is great tossed with pasta as a side dish or toss it with your favorite ravioli or tortellini. There are so many nice artisan raviolis and tortellinis in the supermarket these days. Of course homemade pasta is the best but these fresh pastas make a nice quick meal tossed with a fresh pesto.

You can buy fresh chives in the market. I think the fresh picked ones are the best and I make my pesto right after picking my chives so they are super fresh. Use scissors to snip the chives. Usually a handful of a 12-15 12" chive stems, snipped, yields about a 1/3 cup of chives. Traditional pesto uses pine nuts. You can use pine nuts in this recipe. I prefer almonds because 1) I always have plenty of them, 2) they have a nuttier texture, and 3) almonds are so healthy!

Chive Pesto

1/2 cup of fresh snipped, packed down chives
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup slivered almonds
1/3 plus 1 T Parmesan cheese
salt to taste

Place all ingredients in your food processor and pulse until ground into a pasty pesto. If you prefer, you can thin it to the consistency you want with additional olive oil. Toss pasta with 1 tablespoon per serving or whatever your preference is. Enjoy!