Mint Pesto with Green Garlic

We harvested a lot of mint this week. I was determined to figure out what to do with the piles of herb besides spending a day drinking mojitos.

My search revealed some recipes for mint pesto. I love traditional basil pesto and I always forget you can make it with other herbs as well. Since we had some green garlic leftover as well, I thought that would be a perfect spring/early summer substitution for regular garlic. We placed it on sauteed tilapia, but it would also work well with chicken or lamb.

The following recipe is adapted from two different recipes I found on Epicurious.

Mint Pesto with Green Garlic

3 cups (lightly packed) fresh mint leaves

1/2 cup blanched almonds (could also use pistachios, walnuts, pine nuts, etc.)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil (original recipe called for 1/2 cup, I like less oil)
Half of the end of green garlic, chopped, roughly 1-2 tablespoons
Coarse kosher salt

In a food processor, combine the mint, almonds, and garlic; process until finely chopped.

Gradually pour the olive oil through the feed tube with the food processor on. Season with salt to taste. Store leftover pesto in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks; let it come to room temperature before serving.