Warrigal and Parley Pesto with Homemade Pasta.
I was invited to make pesto and pasta at the new library at the Dock. This was a bit of a challenge as I didn’t have a kitchen. I only had access to a sink and a table. Also parking is not so good at the Docklands so I had to bring all my cooking gear in a trolley on public transport. I’m undeterred by all this as I like the challenge of doing things in unusual spaces. I also like the challenge of preparing food that is available, in my garden. As my Warrigal greens are taking over the garden I decided to make a pesto with them. Warrigal greens or Tetragonia tetragonioides (or previously T. expansa) are a leafy groundcover also known as New Zealand spinach, Warrigal greens, Warrigal cabbage, kōkihi (Māori language, )sea spinach, Botany Bay spinach, tetragon and Cook’s cabbage. It is native to Australia New Zealand, Japan, Chili and Argentina. Apparently Captain Cook fed it to his crew to prevent scurvy. So anyway I adapted this recipe by Simon Bryant. He uses finger limes and sea parsley and I’ve substituted lime peel and ordinary parsley. You can see the original recipe here: http://www.abc.net.au/tv/cookandchef/txt/s1778537.htm
Ingredients
250g Warrigal greens
1 cup parsley
1 cup olive oil
Juice of three lemons
¾ cup parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
4 cloves garlic
1 cup of macadamia nuts
grated rind of one lime
Steam the Warrigal greens for 3 minutes, rinse in cold water and chop. Add all ingredients to a food processor and blitz. Add more salt, pepper and olive oil to taste.
Pasta
400g Durham flour
4 eggs
4 tsp. salt
Place flour and salt in a bowl, add beaten eggs and kneed until the mix comes together. The mix should be stiff and not at all like bread. Small amounts of water can be added 1 tsp. at a time if necessary. Roll out in pasta maker. Cook in a pot of salted water with a tsp. of oil for 3-5 minutes. Fresh pasta doesn’t need to cook as long as shop brought pasta. Serve with lashings of pesto and more olive oil if desired.
