I love veggie spreads: hummus, pesto, tapenade; you name it. What’s also great about them is that you can experiment around a basic recipe almost endlessly. So, here is a recipe for an absolutely delicious kale pesto with a crisp, full flavour. Spread it on bread or seed cracker, serve with roasted vegetables or add to a pasta sauce. I understand that not everyone has spruce sprouts available (I collected and froze some last year) and while they add that sharp tangy edge to this pesto, they are not essential to make a savory pesto following the rest of the recipe.

 Makes about 4 dl

150g fresh kale

2 tbsp frozen or fresh spruce sprouts

2 dl sunflower seeds

2 cloves of garlic (go on, throw in a third, if you love garlic!)

zest and juice of 1/2 lemon

1 dl of olive oil (add more if needed)

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp of honey

Toast the sunflower seeds in a frying pan on high heat, mixing often as they roast quickly. When the seeds have a light brown colour and they give a nice toasty smell, remove from heat. Wash the kale leaves, remove the hard stems and chop into pieces. Toss the kale and the sunflower seeds into a blender or food processor.

Grate the lemon peel and squeeze the lemon juice into the blender. Chop the garlic and add into the mix. Add spruce sprouts, honey, salt and finally the olive oil on top.

Blend into a smooth paste. I left mine a bit chunky but you can blend more for a smoother consistency. Store in a clean container in the fridge for up to 4 days.