Stinging Nettle Pesto

Recently I gave a talk at the local garden club about food and medicinal plants foraged within the Midlands area. We have plains but also hedgerows and abundant waterways providing a wealth of material and a diverse variety across the four seasons.

Nettles are common in our area and quite a super food power packed with nutrition and health benefits and a much better choice for a "cleanse" than some of the more extreme methods. They are rich in Vit. A, C and K and magnesium, phosphorous, calcium, iron, potassium and more. They aid circulation, lower blood sugar and regulate blood pressure. Ergo, if you are on medications for diabetes and blood pressure disorders you may find adjustments and consultations necessary. Anyway, this little story is not intended as medicinal advice but as a useful seasonal food resource. It's free, abundant and good for you in as an inclusion in your diet. They do have a sting but this can be disarmed by a quick blanch in boiling water.

You can find my method and recipes for 

Nettle Hair Rinse

and

Wild Nettle Cordial

And without further ado, my recipe for nettle pesto....

Nettle Pesto

A couple of double handfuls of nettle leaves, young and tender.

1-2 cloves of garlic

50g Parmesan cheese

75-100g raw chashew nuts

olive oil to make required texture

Wash and then blanch for not more than a minute in boiling water and refresh the nettles in cold water and drain well. Pat dry to absorb more water.

Place in a food processor with other ingredients and blend until you have the desired texture. You can pulse till you get a chunky crumbly style or blend well for a creamier sauce like mix.

Use this pesto as you would a basil pesto; over hot pasta, gnocchi, fish etc or delicious as a dip for crackers and crudites. 

Help or House Guest

The kitchen is in full swing at our house, late February and March being the busiest time, and any house guests are welcome to pull up a chair, don an apron and select their knife of choice.

We prepped jalapenos and pickled.

Made a simple spinach and cheese filling seasoned with freshly grated nutmeg - oh divine! Rolled pasta sheets and made fettuccine too. 

We have had a pasta maker for years but last weekend at the market we spotted a deluxe pack version of our Atlas machine which included the ravioli roller.

$10 for the lot and used probably once!

With fresh ripe Roma tomatoes avalanching  on the benches, aromatic green basil in abundance and Craig's homemade Parmesan cheese...

Mama Mia!

Be our guest....

When Life Gives You Leftovers...

This is what the other side of the market looks like.

We resumed our growers' market yesterday with a soft opening.

I returned home with a few bunches of spinach and a bunch of beetroot.

For those of you who looked at our seasonal offerings of greens, beets, herbs and eggs and scratched your heads, here's what you could have made....

Simply substitute a couple of eggs from your pasta recipe for some puree.

Simply steam your beet and puree or blanch the greens and drain and pat dry before pureeing. 

If you have a Thermomix, place the beets whole in the thermo steamer with 1500g of water and cook for 25mins, varoma temp speed 3. Then place the washed and chopped greens into the top tray and varoma for a further 8 mins speed 3.

I pureed the veg in the thermomix and added 3 eggs, a splash of olive oil and 500-600g of flour. Process at 2min on interval knead. It should look a bit breadcrumby. 

It's not an exact science when working with puree, be prepared to add a little flour to get your dough right. Let it sit. Then a couple of minutes later as the gluten works it wants to come together into a ball so gather it together and place in the fridge covered for anywhere up to an hour. I find this gives a lovely elastic and silky dough.

Next make lots of lovely shapes and styles. You can leave to thoroughly dry and it will store in an air tight jar for ages. 

My favourite is "bow ties" 

Cook in boiling water till soft but still firm then drain and toss in butter and herbs, maybe add some chorizo, broad beans, mushrooms...

OR

make a sensational spring nettle pesto...

but that's another story....

Ravioli - A Frugal Meal

While the oven was on all day Sunday I also roasted off the cut pumpkin (see previous post here) and a small portion was devoted to ravioli for dinner the next night. And I really do mean small, a little goes a long way with ravioli.

I googled hoping to find something inspirationally different but was confronted with a hundred recipes for sage and burnt butter sauce....and do you know what....

I couldn't think of anything that does go better with pumpkin ravioli, it's like a law!

So I'm not going to give you a recipe like every other except to say that the pumpkin was roasted with a tiny sprinkle of my home grown and incredibly pungent in it's freshness caraway seed. It was then mashed with feta and lemon myrtle leaf and freshly grated nutmeg. You can simply chose your own aromatics and make it your own. After simmering the ravioli for a few minutes, drain and toss in a pan of "burnt" butter. For the burnt butter I add a large knob of butter and a sloosh of olive oil to allow more leeway in temperature and I add slivered fresh garlic and sage leaves and allow to brown. Simple, nutty, aromatic and perfect with pumpkin.

What I will say is that making your own pasta saves you squillions and makes for a luscious meal even if you don't have backyard chickens. If you do have your own chickens then your pasta will have a bright yellow like mine form those gorgeous free range eggs and if you harvested pumpkins from the compost heap like we did, the cost is next to nix, just some flour.

Would I make this with three little ones under the age of five? Probably not. It does take some time in the kitchen but if you are wanting to spend some quality talk time with a partner or older child, bonus!

I use ordinary flour and generally I use a ratio of one egg for every 100g of flour and the flour component is 1 part fine semolina to 2 parts plain flour. 

A pasta maker can be an investment but it can also be a waste of money if you don't get it out regularly, and that's the key; get it out fortnightly or at least monthly and make lasagne or spaghetti and it soon becomes an enjoyable habit. There is no substitute for fresh pasta and when you compare the costing you will find yourself making very tasty yet incredibly frugal meals.

****************

REMEMBER

NEVER!!! Wash your pasta maker!

Simply dust it off and brush loose pieces free with a pastry brush.

***************

Living Better in October

We talked about 

Christmas gifts

Making decorated candles

Making home made paper hanging ornaments

which led to memories about 

saving foil milk bottle lids for decorating

and stories of painting pop corn for stringing.

(Milk bottle top bells image from here)

We talked about making simple salves from Calendula in the garden

soaps,

herbal tea bags for bath soaks

We talked about 

simple Christmas traditions, each family member taking a turn to stir the pudding for luck and the hidden objects in a plum pud.

We talked about the overwhelming amount of "stuff"

Georgia's family give the children coupons for fun things to do together. It's about spending time with children rather than buying more "stuff". They have coupons for going to the movies or an afternoon at the swimming pool or a trip to the beach.

We talked about broad beans;

The difference between planting in autumn or in spring,

their tendency to get rust, a fungal disease, as the weather warms up, 

About not composting affected plants.

About not trying to squeeze that last 6 pods from the crop and knowing when it is time to harvest and call it quits, ready for the next crop.

We talked about artisan pasta making and Brad is going to share his recipe for beetroot pasta and roasted capsicum pasta.

Gemma shared her recipe for Beet Leaf Ravioli. 

A great way to use the leaves from beetroot, both thrifty and nutritious, not to mention delicious.

Filling for Ravioli:

500g Beet Leaves (stalks Removed)

Maldon Sea Salt

1 small red onion

100g unsalted butter

4 tblsp marjoram leaves

1 garlic clove (finely chopped)

150g Ricotta (lightly broken up with fork)

100g Parmesan

1/2 nutmeg (freshly grated) or just use nutmeg spice!

Gently fry onion in butter until onion begins to brown. Add marjoram and garlic and stir for 1 minute then add beet leaves. Cook together briefly, season then allow to cool. Stir in Parmesan and ricotta. Add nutmeg and season to taste.

Make fresh pasta to your favourite recipe (or buy fresh lasagna sheets) Cut pasta into squares. Add small amount of filling to each square. Top with another square and pinch around edges to seal (ensuring you have removed as much air as possible - to stop them exploding in the water!).

Add to boiling water. Allow them to float to the surface but ensure they have had enough cooking time so that filling will be heated through.

We talked about poultry;

laying hens,

different breeds,

free range turkeys,

quail and their housing,

incubation,

chicken raising

We talked about growing up in small communities

outback towns, the syncronisity of life and the bravery of those a little different who swim against the current of life's stream.

We talked about Killiecrankie Farm's Open Day

We talked about Mount Gnomon products and Langdale Farm pork (also at the Killiecrankie open day)

we talked about Eliza's great video and that ham ordering had begun.

We talked and talked and reminisced and talked some more.

I probably have forgotten to mention lots more.

The most important thing is that everyone shares and brings knowledge of some sort with them and we all leave a bit richer for the experience.

Thank you everyone for a lovely time

xxx

Storing Eggs in Pasta

The other great place to store your glut of eggs besides the fruit cake is in home made pasta.

You don't need to buy a machine but it is a good investment and does make the job of rolling easier.

I guess it enables you to get really nice fine spaghetti lengths too but mostly I make fettuccine and farfalle which can both be hand cut. 

In fact I think hand cut pasta looks charming and rustic and made with love.

The best thing for this job is a very inexpensive crinkle edge pastry cutting wheel.

  

I hang my lengths to dry over coat hangers suspended from the door knobs of the over head cupboards in the kitchen and the smaller pasta like farfalle I leave to dry on wire cake coolers. 

You can freeze your fresh pasta after it has dried for about an hour or dry it thoroughly for about 24hrs and store it in sealed glass jars in the pantry. It must be thoroughly dried before storage but will last at least a year in a cool dry cupboard sealed from vermin.

My Recipe

 allow 1 egg per serve

allow 2/3 cup of flour per egg

allow a ratio of 2 parts flour to 1 part fine semolina.

Therefore and for instance.....

for 4 people....

4 (large) eggs,  1 2/3cup of flour and 1 cup of fine semolina.

Mix the flour and make a well into which you crack the eggs and gradually work them into a dough. It will seem quite dry and crumbly at first but it will come together and I also like to rest it in a plastic bag or wrapped in a barely damp clean cloth. I break off portions at a time to work with leaving the rest wrapped up and somewhere cool.

There are so many options; lasagne sheet, extruded shapes, lengths or cut shapes.

With pasta in the cupboard you always have a meal on hand and it is a great way to store some of those eggs when they are coming thick and fast. A packet of home made pasta is also a wonderful gift from your store cupboard and welcome as a "house warming", "get well" or "congratulations new (tired) parents"

Remember to never wash your pasta machine, just brush it down with a dry pastry brush and store it in a dry cupboard.

A Time For Everything

What a week!

Dr. M is putting in some big days which has me not finishing work till 7-7.30pm these days.

We kicked off the first Living Better With Less class at Exeter on Sunday and made soap.

Our darling Arthur had to be assisted in death by the vet.

Thank you so much for all your kind condolences and messages of hugs. I know that there are many of you who know the path of grief.

This is the last photo I took of him about 10mins before the vet arrived. 

Up until this point I had been massaging his shoulders and neck for about an hour but I pulled back to try to take a photo with my phone. We are on the floor in the back porch and he has pinned me with both his front paws asking for more. Glutton for affection to the end!

Puts his size into perspective doesn't it with my foot in shot too.

Then it was celebrating my other boss' big news with surprise champagne after the surgery.

Dr H is now an Ass. Professor and well deserved it is too.

Tasmania is very lucky to have him.

Then it was the first class at Perth making more soap.

Don't you just love my "drying basket" for curing the soap. It is an old fashioned vegetable hanger that I picked up from the tip shop and it is perfect. It was probably bright red once but is now faded to a soft salmon.

And then today up at 5am picking for the growers market.

I'm a bit pooped. So for now the feet are up.

I've done some more seed swapping

And dinner is going to be left over pasta and fresh herbs from the market.

Very easy and very fresh.

I've met some wonderful new people this week, celebrated exciting news, shared lots of inspiring ideas, received much loved, farewelled a dear friend and fed some families with some good wholesome food.

As a favourite old Australian saying goes;

"You wouldn't be dead for quids"

Making Pasta - Recipe From The Couch

This week you all know I have been a little indisposed with my back.....

So when asked, here is my pasta recipe.

Man: "Babe, what is your pasta recipe?"

T: "Allow one egg per person. How many are you cooking for?"

Man: "Dunno, just feel like making pasta,  I'll work with 4 eggs then"

T: " So allow 2/3 cup of flour per egg"

Man: (confidently responds),"Can do. OK" 

T: "Wait, within that flour egg ratio....I work with a 2/3 flour and 1/3 semolina"

Man: (less confidently) " Rrriiiiight" 

 Piece of cake and fool proof every time.

I do hope you'll try it if you haven't worked out your tried and true yet.

Let me know how you go.

If you do have a tried and true, please share it with us all.

Final Growers' Market for the Season

Saturday was our final Growers' Market at Ut si for the season but I really hope to see it up and running again next spring.

It was one of those almost too perfect days. The perfectly still day full of sunshine and warmth, when the sky is so blue it hurts your eyes.

I would like to say a HUGE THANK YOU to Collette and her team for hosting the market.

Collette's drive and creativity really brings it alive and I love her dedication to community and ethical eating.

I know sometimes she thinks she is banging her head on the proverbial brick wall but she IS making a difference. She IS doing something very important. She IS a light in the dark...quite literally when she is up well before dawn trying to coax her naturally levened bread to rise!

Ut si also have a beautiful organic garden out the back that supplies their kitchen with wonderful, fresh produce. It is common to see Chef popping out to pick for the changing seasonal menu.

These are some of the beautiful heirloom tomatoes that they were also selling yesterday.

Little Jenny Wren popped in to say hello and filled her basket too. She looks wonderful and is doing really well. She has a wonderful warm philosophical outlook on life.

While she was there she and her husband also had a chance to chat with Papa about the wood fired oven where Ut si bakes their own bread.

I didn't have any excess produce to sell as the garden is ticking along with only enough for our needs at the moment.

I figured there would be lots of tomatoes and basil so I converted my hens eggs into fresh pasta.

It wasn't a promising start when one of the first locals through said:

"Uurrghh, what IS it?"

"It's spaghetti"

"Urrrggghhh! What do you DOooo with it?"

"You boil it"

"urghh"

I thought Oh no, is this what I stayed up till 2.30am for! Craig and I will be eating pasta for a week!

Happily it was recognised by other customers and I'm pleased to say it was a sell-out.

Phew!

Do pop in and visit Collette at Ut si (Latin for "as if") and take a wander through her beautifully landscaped garden. Sit with a mezza plate under the spreading tree in the sunshine and you will think you have been carried off to somewhere exotic for a mini holiday. But perhaps you would like a second opinion? They have also been featured in Gourmet Traveller and you can read this great post from Spicy Icecream.