Tea preparation

How about eating tea leaves? Green tea pesto

Publish on 09.23.2024 by Gaia Gardens

As an aperitif, snack or starter, why not try an original version of pesto made with infused tea leaves, Jardins de Gaïa style!

The anti-waste cuisine par excellence, cooking with tea leaves is a common practice in Japan, where every last leaf of the most prestigious teas is enjoyed in several stages: infused, then crunched.

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Green tea pesto, the original anti-gaspi recipe

Ingredients:

Infused green tea leaves
Organic olive or grapeseed oil
Flower of salt or gomasio

To make this recipe:

Once your tea has been infused once, twice, or even more if its quality allows, collect the leaves.
Place them in a bowl and add the oil and spices.
Serve this "pesto" on crackers or slices of toast!

This minimalist version can evolve as you wish: replace the salt with soy sauce, work the pesto in a more traditional way by adding pine nuts or other nuts, grated Parmesan and a touch of garlic..

What tea and food pairings go well with this green tea pesto?

Steamed whole-leaf Japanese teas are ideal for this recipe, as steaming preserves their freshness and elasticity.

The fine needles of a Sencha le songe de Bashō, the glossy leaves of a mythical Gyokuro Premium or even the nutty taste of Genmaicha(toasted rice and sencha) lend themselves particularly well to this recipe!

But if there was one infused tea leaf to nibble on, it's the first harvest of the year, the Shincha!