How do you make roasted beets and beet greens pesto? This recipe will show you how. Six ingredients and 30 minutes is all it takes. This vegan beet recipe can be used as a vegan side dish or as a vegan appetizer. You will need a food processor or a blender for this recipe. The vegan beet greens pesto can be blended while the beets are roasting. This means the roasted beets can be served right out of the oven with the beet greens pesto.
How to make roasted beets
To make the roasted beets, first cut off the stems of the beets. Do not throw them away or put them in the compost just yet. Now, getting back to the beets, cut off any remaining beet stem parts and then peel the beets. Your standard apple peeler will do the trick. This may get messy so you may want to use kitchen gloves. Slice the beets about 1/4 inch thick. Place the sliced beets on a lined baking sheet and coat with olive oil, sea salt, and pepper. Then, bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes or until you can push a fork into them easily.
How to make the beet greens pesto
Traditional Genovese pesto is basil, toasted pine nuts, garlic, parmesan, and olive oil. Pesto ingredients are omitted or substituted to make other types of pesto. My Walnut parsley pesto recipe or my Basil pistachio pesto are examples of this. This vegan pesto recipe can be whipped up pretty quickly. All the ingredients go into a food processor at once! Place the beet greens, olive oil, vinegar, garlic, and pistachios into the food processor and blend until smooth. This beet greens pesto finishes up this vegetarian dish with a nutty, garlicky blend.
To serve the roasted beets and beet greens pesto, place two tablespoons of pesto on a plate and arrange the roasted beets around the pesto.
Roasted Beets with Beet Greens Pesto
Equipment
- 1 food processor or blender
Ingredients
For the roasted beets
- 4 beets with stems and greens attached
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- ½ teaspoon of sea salt
- ½ teaspoon of ground black pepper
For the beet greens pesto
- 2 cups of beet greens
- ½ cup of olive oil
- 2 large garlic cloves
- 2 tablespoons of white wine vinegar
- ½ cup of shelled pistachios
- Sea salt to taste
Instructions
- Cut stems off of the beets and peel the beets.
- Cut the beets into ¼ inch slices.
- Place sliced beets on a lined baking sheet and cover with olive oil, then sprinkle with sea salt and pepper.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes or until fork tender.
- While the beets are roasting, take the greens off of the beet stems. Place 2 cups of the beet greens, olive oil, garlic cloves, white wine vinegar, and pistachios, into a food processor. Blend until smooth. Sea salt to taste
- Serve beet green pesto with the roasted beets.