Charred Scallion Pesto

Just like Mrs. George, this charred scallion pesto is not a regular pesto. It’s a cool pesto.

This pesto recipe was actually inspired by ramps, the evasive spring allium that we all love to love. But the downside is that ramps are now at risk for being over harvested, but when it’s spring and you want to make a ramp pesto, what’s a girl to do?

So luckily, scallions come to the rescue. Well, charred scallions do. When you charr a scallion, you bring out its natural sweetness, helping it imitate the sweetness of ramps, but without using an actual ramp.

Charred scallions are perfect for this pesto because they not only add a level of smokey charred flavor, but they also add a sweet oniony richness that you can’t get anywhere else. I’ll explain more in the blog post!

Why char the scallions in this charred scallion pesto?

Charring the scallions does two things – it add flavor, but also softens the scallions so that they can be smoothly puréed into a pesto. You can’t get either of those benefits if you just used raw scallions.

And scallions often get a bad rap, but when you char them, they instantly give off a nice sweetness that makes you want to eat them whole (which….I often do…it’s amazing).

So trust the char process, trust the pesto, live the dream.

Ingredients to make charred scallion pesto

This is a very standard pesto – but that’s because pesto is GOOD. WE CAN’T MESS WITH A CLASSIC. Here is everything you need:

• 8 stalks of scallions
• 1 cup fresh basil leaves, packed
• 1/4 cup pecorino romano cheese, or nutritional yeast
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tbsp pine nuts, or chopped walnuts
• 1 lemon, for juicing
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste

How to make pesto in a food processor

I love my little KitchenAid food processor because it makes life so easy, and that includes when it comes to pestos.

Traditional pesto is made with mortar and pestle and ground together, but sometimes…well, a lot of the time…your girl just does not have the TIME. So for this charred scallion pesto we are using our tiny food processor the way god intended – quickly, and then we are washing it immediately so we don’t forget about it in the sink.

So first, ventilate your kitchen, then put a cast iron skillet on medium high heat. When the skillet is hot, place the scallions on the skillet and let them char, this will take about 2 minutes. Flip and let the other side char. The darker the better.

Now it’s time to chop off the stem ends from the scallions and add them to a food processor. You could also do this in a blender, I’ll have instructions for that in the recipe box below.

Add in the basil, pecorino romano, pine nuts, lemon juice and garlic. Pulse until the mixture is chunky. Begin to gradually pour in the olive oil while the food processor is running, allowing the pesto to become a smooth paste. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve!

Looking for other dips and spreads?

Here are a few more I’ve been loving lately!

And that’s about it for this charred scallion pesto!

If you make it, please tag me on Pinterest or Instagram so I can see! It’s my favorite thing to scroll through stories and see what you all are making.

And of course feel free to leave any questions, comments or reviews! This is the best place to reach me, and I’d love to hear from you <3