Parsley Scallion Pesto with Roasted Delicata Squash
With a 29 degree evening forecast last week, the remaining parsley and scallions in our garden had to be harvested. Loving fresh pesto and knowing I’d soon have lots of parsley, I had a parsley pesto recipe at hand just waiting for this day. I saw the recipe on the cover of the small pamphlet from bon appétit magazine sent as a thank you for renewing my subscription.
Although their parsley pesto recipe was tasty, to me it lacked garlic and needed a bit more oomph. Even some of the online reviews called it bland. So with the addition of fresh garlic (does pesto without garlic qualify as pesto?) and lots of scallions, here’s a new Parsley Scallion Pesto recipe you’ll want to add to your repertoire.
As parsley and scallions can both be found fresh year round, you can enjoy Parsley Scallion Pesto throughout fall, winter and spring. Though, once the first garlic scapes appear at farmers’ markets followed closely by fresh basil, they’ll most likely take pesto’s center stage.
Flat leaf parsley (aka Italian parsley) and curly leaf parsley
Yes, you can use fresh flat leaf and curly leaf parsley interchangeably. The choice is yours. When you can’t pick parsley directly from your garden, choose the one that looks and smells the freshest.
One caveat, though, stay away from flavorless dried parsley. It bears no 
resemblance to aromatic, clean and brightly flavored fresh parsley.
Tender and mild curly leaf parsley chops easily, making it the perfect parsley for garnishing soups, stews and platters with a spot of bright green. Curly parsley also stars in tabouli, the classic Middle Eastern salad.
Many chefs prefer the more robustly flavored flat leaf parsley. We grow both kinds in our garden. I’ll usually combine the two for the best of both worlds.
Scallions versus green onions
No contest here. Despite having two different names, the long, skinny, green-topped onions with white bottoms are one and the same. The different names may be just a function of geography. 
If you grew up on the East Coast, you probably call them scallions. Everywhere else in the U.S. they are simply green onions. But then countering that theory, I prefer to call them scallions, even though I was raised in California.
To add a little more confusion to the name game, when you purchase garden seeds go by the picture on the seed packet with the name “bunching onions.”
Call them what you will, but do use the entire scallion. You’ll find scallions delicious from their root end all the way to their deep green end. Enjoy mild flavored scallions as a tasty addition and/or garnish for soups and grains, salads and salsas. But, please, slice them thinly. Larger slices enhance stir-fries with their color and flavor. And whole scallions taste sweet and luscious when roasted or grilled. Have fun making your own scallion brushes as a lively garnish for all things Asian.
Delicata squash
With its sweet flavor and thin skin (as in no peeling required), delicata squash ranks as 
one of my favorite varieties of winter squash. This colorful and tasty pairing of roasted delicata and Parsley Scallion Pesto was happenstance. The very same morning of the forecast freeze, a friend dropped off these new-to-me round delicata squash.
We couldn’t wait to give them a try for dinner. Paul cut, trimmed and roasted the squash while I harvested and prepared the pesto. A splendid combination.
Parsley Scallion Pesto
Inspired by and adapted from a recipe in bon appétit magazine.
Enjoy naturally gluten-free Parsley Scallion Pesto as you would any other pesto.
♥ Stirred into soup
♥ Tossed with pasta
♥ Spread on pizza
♥ Slathered on sandwiches
♥ Spread on toast
♥ Swirled into hummus or labneh
♥ Drizzled over roasted or steamed vegetables
♥ Included in a wrap
♥ Savored on a spoon
Makes 1 ½ cups Printer-Friendly Recipe
Total Time 20 minutes
Ingredients
½ cup whole almonds or walnuts
2 large cloves peeled garlic
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
4 cups lightly packed washed and dried flat leaf parsley or a combination of both flat leaf and curly leaf parsley, about1½ – 2 large bunches
1½ cups sliced scallions (about 1 ½ bunches)
½ teaspoon sea salt
Dozen twists freshly ground pepper
½ cup plus 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
¾ cup grated Pecorino Romano
Instructions
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Roast the almonds or walnuts for 6 minutes. Set aside to cool.- With the food processor running, drop the garlic through the feed tube. Process until minced.
Add the lemon juice to the garlic in the processor and let it sit while you prepare the parsley and scallions.- Add the toasted nuts to the processor. Process until finely chopped.
- Add the parsley, scallions, salt and pepper. Process until coarsely chopped. Add the oil and process until finely chopped. Add the
grated cheese and mix just until incorporated. - Parsley Scallion Pesto can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for about 6 months.