A fresh, green and delicious Fennel Fronds Pesto to make you feel like a domestic goddess — or a domestic god.
I’ve been making a Fennel Fronds Pesto for years because it seems a shame to me to throw away those gorgeous, feathery greens. When you grow up in middle class India, one of the things you learn early on is to stretch every resource there is until it squeals. And there really is no reason why anyone should throw fennel fronds away. They are delicious, with a fresh, licorice flavor that lends itself perfectly to fresh salads or pestos.
Fennel, in its fresh form, is not eaten widely in India, or at least it was not along the west coast of India, where I grew up, although fennel seeds are commonly used in Indian cooking. When I moved to the United States, I was intrigued by these juicy, crunchy bulbs and their brilliant-green fronds, and the fact that they tasted so much like fennel seed, only way fresher. I incorporated them quickly into my cooking, and never looked back in disappointment.
This fennel fronds pesto is one I’ve been making for a long time now, but it’s been buried under the more than 1,000 recipes that are now on this blog, so here it is again.
You can use this pesto for pasta, of course — roast the fennel bulbs and toss them in too for a tasty and nutritious meal — but you can also smear it on a piece of toast or top a tasty tofu or tempeh steak with it. Your imagination is the limit, and you really don’t need to limit it when there’s so much deliciousness on offer.
If you’re worried that the pesto will taste too much of licorice, worry not. The flavor is mild, at best, and it is really quite delicious when combined with pasta. I use pumpkin seeds instead of nuts in the recipe, which makes this recipe even healthier. You can sub with pine nuts, the more traditional choice for pesto, or with walnuts.
I don’t really miss cheese in my vegan pestos, but sometimes I add a dash of miso or nutritional yeast, both for their cheesy flavor and for the nutritional weight they bring. I added it here, but you could leave it out and it wouldn’t hurt the flavor at all.
If you make this recipe or any other on the blog, be sure to let me know in the comments below. Or take a photo and tag me @HolyCowVegan on Instagram. I’d love to see!
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Other recipes using things you might throw away:
Watermelon Rind Dosa
Blueberry Sourdough Pancakes
Vegan Sourdough Waffles
(The sourdough recipes are made with the “discard” portion of the sourdough)
Also try my Vegan White Pesto
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Fennel Fronds Pesto:
Fennel Fronds Pesto:
Fennel Fronds Pesto
Ingredients
- 4 packed cups chopped fennel fronds (from two bulbs)
- 2 cloves garlic (crushed and chopped)
- 1/2 to 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup unsalted pumpkin seeds (you can use salted, but dial down the added salt in that case)
- 4-8 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- Salt to taste
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
Instructions
- Place all the ingredients except the oil in a food processor except the olive oil. With the blade running, drizzle in the olive oil until you have a coarse paste. Check for salt and pepper and add more if needed.
Notes
Nutrition
Thank you so much for this recipe– i’ve made 3 batches of your fennel frond pesto and we’re just in love with the recipe. We like it with pasta and we like it with fish too– tonight I served it over pieces of seared tuna on a bed of sweet corn.
Had some leftover fennel after making a cassoulet with the bulb, so glad I found this idea! I had an idea for a recipe with pesto this coming week. I substituted sunflower seeds as I’m allergic to nuts and had no pumpkin seeds at the time, and did add some fresh basil (the package I got delivered from Whole Foods was TINY, needed the rest for my whole dish) and parm. Very yummy!!
I had a “make it it now or compost” moment with the fronds from one fennel , so I made a small batch, using walnuts, which is all I had on hand. Also added some Brewers Yeast, as suggested, as we are dairy free. It’s wonderful! Thank you for your recipe!
Great recipe!
Thank you.
Did you toast or brown the pumpkin seeds or not
No.
Magnificent!!! and delish!
Tonight was the second time I’ve made this, so I was a bit more adventurous. I added an extra garlic clove, plus some pine nuts and hemp seed for added creaminess (cheesiness). I eyeballed everything–no measuring–and it turned out great!
I can’t have citrus, so I added a couple of table spoons of white wine vinegar, and I am allergic to yeast so didn’t add any nutritional yeast, and it was still amazing! I stirred it into some seared Trader Joe’s cauliflower gnocchi and it was probably the best think I’ve eaten in years. It took everything in me not to eat the whole pan! I’ll definitely be making this again!
Hi Vaishali,
Thank you so much for this recipe, super delicious. I added an avocado to give it a creamy texture and was not disappointed!
Have a wonderful new year!
So happy to hear! 🙂
I love this! Much better than other fennel pesto I’ve made. So vibrant! Any reason why I couldn’t freeze small containers for the future? I’ve frozen other pestos before with a thin layer of olive oil on top to aid color retention.
Hi Gail, you could absolutely freeze it! So happy you tried it. 🙂
is there any recommended substitution for the pumpkin seeds? would walnuts work?
Walnuts would be great. Or any nut.
Sorry to ask too but really just the fronds or the thin and or thick parts of the stems as well?
You can use the entire stems, including the thick parts. Your pesto might be a little coarser, so if you want it to be finer, discard the stems and use the fronds only.
In this recipe do I use the bulb or just the leafy part? Julie
Just the leafy part! You can roast the bulbs to toss into your pasta or save for another use.
Thinly sliced raw fennel makes a great salad with thinly sliced celery, oil and lemon juice, maybe some chopped parsley or other leafy herb, salt, a little pepper ( I prefer white here), etc.