Rosie's Spinach pasta with hedgerow pesto
Pasta dough –
5-6 big spinach leaves
2 eggs
200g plain flour / 00 flour
Pesto –
50g wild garlic leaves
50g three-cornered leek
50g nettle leaves
50g spinach
50g walnuts / hazelnuts / pine nuts / sunflower seeds / pumpkin seeds (whichever you prefer)
200ml olive oil
2 tsp capers
50g parmesan (omit if vegan or replace with 1-2 tbsp nutritional yeast)
Pinch salt
*Note: for the pesto, use whatever you have to hand! If you can’t forage any wild garlic or three-cornered leek, add more nettle and spinach. Or you could add in different wild greens like the leaves of Alexanders or wild mustard.
For the pasta:
Blanch the spinach leaves in boiling water for 1 minute then drain and quickly rinse with cold water. Squeeze out the excess water and roughly chop. Add to a blender with the eggs and blitz until smooth.
Tip the flour into a bowl and add the egg mix. Bring together with a fork or your fingers until it forms a dough. You may need to add more flour if it is too wet, or if too dry add a little olive oil. Knead the dough for 5-10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Then place back in the bowl and cover with a damp tea towel to rest for 30 mins. Roll the dough out – if using a pasta machine go to the 2nd thinnest setting. If rolling by hand, aim for a thickness of about 2mm. Cut into the desired shape – easy shapes include tagliatelle (long thick-ish strips) or pappardelle (even thicker strips).
To cook, boil a large pan of water and add a good pinch of salt. Add the pasta and boil for 2 minutes.
For the pesto:
Put all the ingredients in a food processor and blend to a coarse paste. You can add more olive oil or a touch of water to thin if needed.
To serve:
Toss the pasta with the pesto and enjoy!
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