Living well for less in France

Living well for less in France

Monday 9 May 2016

NETTLE PESTO AND NETTLE GNUDI

A quiet day gave me the chance to go out and collect a few more bags of nettles.
Some is to make more feed for the vegetables and the rest I am trying out two new recipes

NETTLE PESTO

This is basically a pesto recipe but replacing spinach with nettles.

The advantage of this is that nettles are free and fresh. . The disadvantage is it takes more time and effort



BASIC RECIPE

1/4 lb stinging nettles...don't forget to wear gloves when collecting
1/4 cup if mint leaves
1 Clive of garlic...crushed.
1/2 cup toasted pine or walnuts
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/3 cup of olive oil
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Blanch nettles in salted water.
Remove , cool and squeeze out excess water. I lay mine on a tea towel rather than wasting kitchen roll
In a blender mix everything except the oil and cheese.
Once well blended drizzle in the oil while continuing to blend. Add the cheese  also salt and pepper to season.

It will look like this....a bit sort of ...very green!!!




Perfect stirred into pasta and served with cherry tomatoes and feta cheese.
Use as a pizza topping or spread on toasted French bread






NETTLE GNUDI



Gnudi is a cousin  of gnocchi and until I came across this recipe I had never heard of it before. To be honest we rarely eat gnocchi.which is probably why I have never made it. I have thrown some in with a stir fry to bulk it out but find it a bit heavy to have a whole plateful.

Still... I was intrigued what nettle gnudi would be like and thought it was worth giving it a try

Basic recipe is...
tub of ricotta cheese
2 ozs of nettles...more if you would like a stronger flavour or colour
3 chicken egg yolks
cup and a half of plain flour
seasoning......salt, pepper,
optional additions are Parmesan and garlic powder


Blanch the nettles. Strain and squeeze out the excess water

Whizz up in a processor

Remove the liquid from the ricotta cheese and add to processor along with the 3 egg yolks.
season with salt pepper and other additions

Mix it all together along with the flour until it makes a light dough
.
Roll in balls...I found it easier to roll up into cigar shapes and then cut equal sized pieces,- and then roll into balls

BE PREPARED TO GET STICKY HANDS....BEST WITH COOL HANDS IN A COOL ROOM AS WITH ALL PASTRY.

Flatten each one down slightly....cant say they look particularly appetising at this point


Bring a pan of water to boiling....the wider the better as you can get more balls in!! This recipe makes about 50 balls.

Drop a batch into the boiling water ...they are ready when they rise to the surface.
Scoop out with a slotted spoon or tea strainer.
Place on a tray........don't put them onto to kitchen roll ..they will stick to it.

Keep warm in the oven whilst doing all the batches if you want to use it immediately.

Leave to cool and then open freeze for half an hour then you can bag up portion sizes in the freezer.

You can also pan fry the gnocchi in oil and butter..adding whatever herbs you fancy.

I am reliably informed that Gnudi is much easier to make than gnocchi and can be used in exactly the same way.....with a nice tomato or blue cheese sauce.

So what are you waiting for.....get out and get wild food picking!!! Think of all the health benefits of those nettles and they are FREE!

BON APPETITE XX











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