Grilled Swordfish with Kale Pesto

Grilled Swordfish with Kale Pesto is a go to meal in our house! Here’s our basic recipe for the combination; we also like to combine grilled swordfish, pesto and pasta. Check out our Best Grilled Swordfish recipes for more recipe ideas with grilled swordfish. And for more details on making the sauce, check out our kale pesto recipe article.

I grill swordfish quite often, so it was a matter of time before I tried some swordfish topped with kale pesto. Often I’ll make a double batch of pesto, and wind up with extra after the first night we have it. Recently there was swordfish on sale and I’d already make some kale pesto; the result was this tasty and healthy Grilled Swordfish with Kale Pesto. In addition to the great recipe, there’s also an exciting giveaway, so be sure to keep reading for the details.

Kale pesto is a great way to warm up to kale if you haven’t come to enjoy it yet. If you are already a kale fan, you might have figured out that it makes a nice, healthy pesto. Either way, give this kale pesto a try with some swordfish, and I think you’ll be pleased with the results! Another delicious meal that can be on your table in under 30 minutes. For more recipes featuring kale and other greens, be sure to check out my Collards & Kale Cookbook.

I plated the pesto alongside the swordfish, giving my fellow diners a chance to add the desired amount of pesto. I think it presented nicely, but as you can see it wasn’t long before we dug in and got that fish well covered in the pesto. By the way, for this kale pesto, I used a bag of kale salad that also had little bits of carrot, which is why you see some orange mixed in with the green kale pesto. I’m sure this grilled swordfish would be good with traditional basil pesto, too, if you have some on hand you’d like to use.

For another delicious swordfish recipe, try our Grilled Swordfish with Garlic Soy Marinade.

Wine Pairing

Italian white wines would be the natural category for our Grilled Swordfish with Kale Pesto recipe. Soave and Pinot Grigio would be some easy to find choices. Less common varietals like Arneis could also work. We will have to come back and update this with some new pairings — we certainly make this enough to test out new ideas!

Recipe card

Grilled Swordfish with Kale Pesto

Print Recipe

★★★★★

5 from 1 review

Grilled swordfish topped with healthy kale pesto for an easy and tasty meal.

• Author: Cooking Chat
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 15 mins
• Total Time: 25 mins
• Yield: 4 servings 1x
• Category: Main
• Method: grilling
• Cuisine: Italian

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 lb swordfish
• 4 cups tightly packed kale leaves, stems removed
• 3 garlic cloves
• 2 tbsp pine nuts
• generous pinch red pepper flakes
• salt and pepper to taste
• ½ cup (or a tad more) grated pecorino romano cheese
• ⅔ cup extra virgin olive oil

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

1. Preheat a grill to medium high.
2. Add the kale and garlic to a food processor, coarsely chopping to create enough room for the other ingredients.
3. Add the remaining kale pesto ingredients, from the pine nuts through the olive oil, and puree until it comes to a nice smooth consistency.
4. Start grilling the swordfish. Grill the swordfish with the grill covered for 6 minutes. Flip the fish to the other side, and brush the side now facing up with the orange juice. Grill another 6 minutes, and check for doneness. You want the fish to be just cooked through (all white) but still moist. This typically takes 12 to 15 minutes of total grilling time depending on the thickness of the fish. When the swordfish is done remove it to a platter.
5. Cut the swordfish into serving size portions and plate along with a generous dollop of kale pesto. People can add the amount of swordfish they like to top their swordfish

Keywords: grilled swordfish, swordfish with pesto

Recipe Card powered by