Kale Pesto

Kale brings winter to your table and into the jar

Königskind Kale Pesto is a winter-warming pesto made from fresh kale, high-quality sunflower oil, and authentic Parmigiano Reggiano, refined with cashews and sesame – handmade by Uwe König in the small gourmet manufactory in the Oberbergisches region. A North German insider tip for Pinkelwurst, pasta, and potatoes, with a fine splash of lemon and a hint of garlic.

The Kale Pesto from Königskind is a creamy, wintery pesto from the Oberbergisches Land. With fresh kale, sunflower oil, authentic Parmigiano Reggiano, cashews, sesame seeds, lemon juice, a hint of garlic, a little soy sauce, spices, and salt, only a few honest ingredients go into the jar – without artificial flavors, colorings, preservatives, or flavor enhancers. Uwe König purees the fresh kale by hand and avoids any over-processing to preserve its vibrant green color and characteristic, strong-savory taste.

Deep green, creamy, and with a strong, savory kale note

Once opened, the typical scent of freshly prepared kale rises – warm, spicy, wintery-powerful, accompanied by the nutty note of cashews and a fine sesame aroma in the background. The color is a deep, rich dark green with golden yellow oil shimmers, the consistency creamy-velvety with a slight graininess from the finely ground cashews and sesame. Freshly picked kale requires at least 2 hours of pre-processing before it goes into the pesto – that's craftsmanship.

On the tongue, the pesto begins with the full, mature kale aroma – soft, mild, and ripened, with an almost buttery depth. Then come the cashews with their gently sweet nuttiness, the Parmigiano Reggiano with its salty-umami savoriness, and a hint of garlic. The soy sauce adds a fine umami accent, while the lemon juice provides freshness. A pesto you wouldn't expect – soft and mild, with a North German character.

We like it with Pinkelwurst, pasta, and on roasted potatoes

Kale Pesto is the North German answer to classic pestos. It pairs particularly well with Pinkelwurst – the regional specialty from Bremen and Oldenburg, traditionally served with kale. A generous spoonful of pesto next to hot Pinkelwurst, with some floury potatoes and a dab of mustard – and you have a winter plate that tells the story of the entire region at once.

We also like it with pasta: stir 3 tablespoons of pesto into warm linguine or tagliatelle, add a little pasta water to make the sauce silky, and sprinkle with a little grated Parmigiano on top – in 10 minutes, you'll have a pasta dish on the table that surprises guests because it seems classically Italian yet has a wintery foundation. The pesto is also a delight with fried gnocchi with a pinch of nutmeg or with linguine and 50g of roasted bacon.

Our tip for everyday cooking: Kale Pesto on roasted oven potatoes with a dollop of sour cream, on hearty farmhouse bread with a piece of mature cheese, or as a dip for warm pretzels. As a sauce for pan-fried dishes – beef fillet, pork chop, or chicken breast – the pesto makes a surprisingly good impression. You can find more pestos from Königskind's kitchen with the spring-fresh Wild Garlic Pesto and the autumn-rich Porcini Pesto. More in our Königskind collection.

Königskind Genussmanufaktur – with a North German heart in the Oberbergisches region

The Königskind Genussmanufaktur is the passion project of Uwe König and his wife Sabine. What began as a hobby in their home kitchen in 2005, the couple expanded into a full-time business in 2014 due to growing demand for their pestos, chutneys, and mustards. To this day, all Königskind products are cooked in the kitchen under the Ziegenbusch in Wiehl – all by hand, in manageable quantities, with the care that only a small family manufactory can provide.

The Kale Pesto is a small Königskind specialty: Uwe König has combined the North German tradition of kale with Italian pesto technique to create a product that is rarely found elsewhere in this form. He uses only fresh kale, authentic Parmigiano Reggiano, and consistently refrains from artificial flavors, colorings, preservatives, and flavor enhancers. The Kale Pesto is part of the Königskind seasonal line – alongside the spring-fresh Wild Garlic Pesto and the autumn-rich Porcini Pesto, it completes the year-round pesto assortment.