Pesto di Ortiche – Stinging Nettle Pesto

I still love Basil Pesto but Stinging Nettle is available, free and interesting to use. Basil is hard to grow in Dunedin and costs a mint to buy. The same recipe can be used for Rocket, Carrot Tops or Basil Pesto.

170 g Stinging Nettle

40 g Roasted Pine Nuts

40 g Garlic Cloves

270 g Good Extra Virgin olive oil

3 g Salt

70 g Melted Butter

90 g Grated Parmigiano cheese (or any other hard Italian grating cheese)

40 g Pecorino Romano cheese (or similar sharp and tangy cheese)

Today I used my own home made cheeses and the end result was divine!

Put everything except the cheese and butter in a blender and blend well. Do not make it into slush – keep a fine texture. You may need more olive oil to complete the job

Now fold in the cheese and butter

Serve on fresh or toasted bread, dab on to meat, chicken, fish and vegetarian dishes, use as a dip for carrots and other fresh veg, salad dressing, and of course as a pasta sauce. 

 

Pizza Rustica – Italian Easter Pie

FBD53040-EA33-46F0-8646-98AD3314ACDD

It is Easter, so in the absence of grand children, chocolate eggs, dyed eggs and the like Mrs BYF made a Pizza Rustica. It cannot be called traditional I suppose, lacking mortadella and prosciutto. I did have some ricotta left as well as some soft cheese that happened and has no name, plus some mozzarella that would not stretch, so the cheese was sorted. I sliced some home made salami and guanciale and that sorted the meat. The pie turned out great – my Nona would have approved.

PIE CRUST

Whisk 10 g dry yeast and 10 g sugar in enough lukewarm water to dissolve the sugar and yeast. Leave until the mixture is foaming

500 g flour

150 g butter softened

2 eggs  lightly whisked

10 g salt

Mix all the ingredients including the yeast together. You should have a stiff dough like a pasta dough after kneading it a bit. Let the dough stand in a warm spot until the yeast is activated. Roll the dough out thinly and line a spring form cake tin

Set oven on 190C

FILLING

3 eggs, lightly whisked

500 g of cheese and ricotta combined

100 g guanciale very thinly sliced

100 g salami very thinly sliced

Pepper to taste

Combine all the ingredients well

Line spring form pan with 3/4 of the pastry dough

Pour the filling into the pan. Roll out enough pastry to make a lid for the pie. Prick within a fork

Bake for 35 minutes

ENJOY and do not forget to wash it all down with a glass of good homemade red wine

Risotto con le Ortiche – Stinging Nettle Risotto

Our attempt to buy as little as possible from the supermarkets is paying off! It is almost as if we had spent the past 5 years preparing for this lockdown event.  We have not visited the supermarket since two weeks before lockdown started, and will go to get only white vinegar and body wash tomorrow morning as early as possible. The vegetable garden is now going into winter and everything has slowed down in the cool weather, we have some beans, artichokes, cardoon, lettuces, rocket, potatoes, leeks, spring onions, a few green tomatoes, lots of fruit and so on left to pick. One source of greens, however that is growing well now with lots of tender young shoots is stinging nettle. There are a few plants in the chook run that the chooks like to peck at, but they left enough for us to harvest. We love the taste and since today was leftover day, which means risotto with everything in the fridge, Mrs BYF pulled it all together by adding a handful chopped  stinging nettle. The result was so delicious that I decided to share

Stinging nettle also makes wonderful pesto  – just use nettle instead of basil

Risotto with everything and Stinging Nettle

1 Cup blanched stinging nettle. The blanching gets rid of the sting, if you use gloves you can skip the blanching

1 Cup diced leftover roasted lamb (home butchered) including the gravy left in the pot

4 Skinny leeks (out of the garden) chopped including the leaves

4 Spring onions (out of the garden) chopped including the leaves

2 Cloves garlic (out of the garden) chopped

1 Green chilli (out of the garden) chopped

11/2 Cup of Arborio rice

1 Litre of good unsalted stock, I used home made quail and vegetable, kept hot on the side

1/4 Cup or more of olive oil or vegetable oil for frying

1/2 Cup grated parmigiano to sprinkle at the table

Salt and pepper to taste

Mrs BYF uses her trusty medium sized cast iron pot which is good for everything

Pour the oil in the pot, add the chopped leeks and spring onions and fry gently until tender, put the garlic in towards the end of the process to avoid it burning. Add the rice and fry until the first grain pops then pour in a glass of white wine (home made). When the wine has evaporated, ladle about a cup full of stock on to the rice, more if needed to stop the rice from sticking. Now keep stirring to gelatinise the starch in the rice slowly over low heat to make a creamy risotto, intermittently adding a few spoonfuls of stock, not too much at a time. When the rice is almost al dente, it takes about 20 minutes, add the  diced meat and the nettles. Heat through, check for salt and pepper and serve immediately in warmed bowls or pasta plates. Sprinkle with lots of grated parmigiano at the table.

Enjoy with a couple of glasses of home made red wine !!!

Broad Bean Pods

487EBABB-DAB7-4D88-AF29-3F6D2C131F03With temperatures rising and with possible water shortages looming we have to waste less food. What is viewed as food in today’s supermarket shopping culture is a good question. If you have your own garden and you don’t use insecticides, secondary harvests like beetroot and carrot tops, pumpkin and radish leaves and nettles are nutritious and delicious, doubling the harvest of greens in small veggie patches. The main harvest in my garden at present is broad beans and throwing away the lovely young fresh pods has rankled with Mrs BYF for ever.

What we did today was to remove the beans from the pods and save them for later. The pods were rinsed, cleaned and sliced sliced in about 3 mm thick pieces, much as one would slice green beans, to be used in a stew. The stew was so delicious that I had to share the recipe with you.

Broad Bean Pods Stew

500 g any meat, cubed or on the bone. Because I had to make room in my cages I butchered some birds and I used:

2 quails,  wings, neck and the backbone of a chicken. I also added all the livers.
1 onion diced
1 clove garlic chopped
1 tablespoon tomato puree
1 1/2 cups of white wine
5 cups sliced broad bean husks
1/2 cup stock, more if needed
6 tablespoon olive oil
pinch of chili flakes or one small chili
sage, about 1/2 cup sliced
salt
pepper

Large pan or dutch oven with a tight fitting lid that will take all the ingredients.

Soften the onion in the olive oil over low heat, do not let it change colour. Add the garlic and meat and lightly brown over medium heat. Turn the heat up and when bubbling add the wine, leaving it to boil the alcohol away.
Add the sage, chili and puree and turn the ingredients over in the pan until well covered. Add the husks and a few tablespoons of stock. Cover the pot tightly and leave to cook over slow heat. Check in 20 minutes for moisture and add salt and pepper. Cook for about 60 minutes or until the meat is tender, adding stock only if necessary. The dish should not be soupy.

Serve with polenta or rice to soak up all the lovely sauce, or enjoy with crusty home made bread and a glass of home made red wine.

Focaccia con Patate e Pancetta

22D684BB-BFF5-4BFF-B32F-0F06B80A8FBFI bake Bread and Focaccia several times every week and today I decided to make the Focaccia with Pancetta (which I have a lot of) and Potato (which the two grandsons love)

Let us hope the masters will approve!

Standard Focaccia dough. Cube potatoes and boil in salted water for about 8 minutes until soft – drain well. Fry the Pancetta in olive oil until crisp – drain and retain the oil – dry Pancetta on paper towels. Pour hot oil over hot potatoes. Mix in some lemon zest and chopped rosemary and toss well.

After the first rise of the dough, beat it down and form to fit the pan. Top with Pancetta / Potato mix and let it rise for a second time. Brush with olive oil and bake.

ENJOY !!!!!