Swiss chard stalk pesto with pepitas

Pesto Italian cuisine

I love Swiss chard, but I hate the stalks...don't we all? But when one buys two pounds of chard, one inevitably inherits about 12 ounces of stalks, and that is a lot of food to be wasted. And although the stalks do not belong in a bowl of creamed chard, they make for a really tasty and sustainable pesto. (I did not forget the cheese in this recipe, but I found the pesto tasty enough without it. But if you really would like to maintain the integrity of the dish called pesto, about 3 ounces of Pecorino Romano will not hurt.)