parsley pesto

Its that time of the year again when we have an abundance of flat leaf parsley in the garden and while i let some of it go to seed to allow for next years crop I have been filling in some spare moments by making pesto with the rest. Pesto pasta is a form of comfort food in our house, it's one of the green foods that doesn't involve coercion or other forms of negotiation with non compliant minors.

I would normally add parsley to a basil pesto, its seems to alleviate the bitterness that can occur when chopping basil with a steel food processor blade (not the correct way but the quick way). Using the processor allows me to make pesto in bulk (literally bucket loads) and easily vary the consistency according to preference (chunky or smooth). I add it to vegie or meat sauces, mayo to dress coleslaw, lasagna, or spread it onto pizza bases. Recently I made some potato and spinach gnocchi and dressed it with parsley pesto which was feast of green! (that nobody complained about, much...)

3 cups of chopped parsley

1 cup of cashews ( i buy the broken ones much more affordable than pine nuts)

2/3 extra virgin olive oil

1-2 gloves of garlic

1 cup grated parmesan

pinch of salt

Process according to preference. Store in sealed containers in the fridge for a week (longer if you pour more oil over the top) or freeze. When adding to pasta retain some of the cooking water and/or add some olive oil to encourage good coverage.

Cabbage, Parsley, Ricotta Cannelloni

Once a week we get an amazing box of local and seasonal organic vegies and fruit. Its always a bit of a mystery what's in the box which makes for part of the fun. While eating seasonally makes good environmental and health sense it means you need to be creative with your cooking or it starts to get a little bit repetitive. I like to experiment and on a whim i will throw things together. The next couple of posts are recipes that i have either adapted to what's in my fridge or i have made them up. They require you to intuit quantities and timing a little as they have not been tested, let me know if you have any success or failures with them. p.s because i am trying to get the kids to eat them the flavours a simple - you could try adding chilli or anchovies to the cannelloni stuffing if you like.

Cabbage, parsley and ricotta Cannelloni

One box of Cannelloni tubes

Finely cut ¼ of a green cabbage and steam

Finely chop onion and lightly brown in olive oil

Add one finely chopped clove of garlic

In a bowl bring cabbage and onion mix together

Add ¾ cup finely chopped parsley and one egg

1- 1 ½ cups of crumbled ricotta Salt and pepper to taste

Tomato sauce

One onion finely chopped One clove or two of garlic finely chopped

Tin of tomatoes chopped 2 tblespoons of tomato paste plus tin of water or one bottle of Passata

In a pot brown onion in olive oil add garlic

Add tomatoes tins + paste or sauce

Salt and pepper and dried or fresh oregano for flavour

Cook till sauce thickens slightly say 20 mins

While sauce is cooking fill Cannelloni tubes with vege mix

Place in a heavy bottomed (cast iron) pan and cover with tomato sauce

place lid or tinfoil over the top and cook 30 -40mins till pasta tubes are soft. You may need to add a little bit of water if the sauce is drying out too much.