Tasty Lemon Rocket Pesto

Bored with basil Pesto? Rocket is in season and cheap? Cooking Fish or Baked Vegies that need a lashing of something? Try this....

Rocket is one of the most under rated and under utilized herbs out there. It's like the salad ingredient that the foodie scene had a huge love affair with a while ago... then it faded back to just another ingredient to be used sometimes every now and then. How do I know this? Check out your local supermarket - there will be 8000 heads of Iceberg(good but come on..!.) and Cos(good for Caesar salad and...um...?), and only half a dozen bunches of Rocket. For a herb that grows like a weed, it amazes me that we are not flooded with the stuff. Now that would be heaven.

It makes a great salad leaf, adds a pepper overtone(the mature large kind) in cooking, is a replacement for wilted spinach in a pinch, and makes as good a Pesto that Basil does....

I have been making Pesto of all varieties for about 15 years now, always in a food processor, and occasionally in a Mortar and Pestle when attempting an authentic dish.... my number 1 frustration with final result - the paste produced by these methods won't always go with dishes which need you to distinguish the flavors in the Pesto rather than the Pesto paste itself... e.g. Fish, Baked Veggies etc.. This recipe solves that by chopping the essential ingredients - not blending. Its a loose Pesto - and when you serve it on food - you'll see and taste why it's so great.

Cooking time:

I can knock this up in about 15 mins.... but perhaps give 20 or 25 mins based on how fast you chop.

Big Hints for a winning result:

The Almonds:

Frustrated with the price of Pine Nuts - I turned to Almonds for this, and since have not looked back. Use a Mortar and Pestle for the Almonds... if you dont have that get some Almonds wrapped up in kitchen paper or Tea-Towel, and smash em up with a fry pan. You don't want peanut butter, but you don't want gravel.... somewhere in-between will do.

Rocket:

Forget the baby rocket, go for the full sized matured peppery flavored leaf.

Oil:

EVO(Extra Virgin Olive Oil) can be overpowering on the flavor - if this is too much for you, use light Olive Oil or Rice Bran Oil(same cooking properties as EVO without the big taste).

Storing:

When storing the Pesto, press plastic film right down onto the Pesto to avoid oxidization.

Your take on Pesto:

Always, always, always pre-prep Pesto ingredients. - And if you have enough produce at hand - always pre-prep a little more than needed - so you can balance out the end result. Pesto is unique on the palette to everyone - the important thing to remember is to get the base ingredients ready - and make it to your liking - there are no rules.

Be patient:

Number 1 mistake with Pesto - adding too much of this and not enough of that! Reason being when you bring all the flavors together they are very much bangin' on being very excited -basically oils and the acids are reacting! You need to leave it sit for at least 1 hour to sample the end flavor - get some intuition going on - it might taste a bit strange now, but in 1 hour?

Salt and Pepper:

Sea salt and whole pepper corns pushed through a Mortar and Pestle does best - fresher bigger seasoning - otherwise use what you have. Black pepper is a must though - not white.

Ingredients:

Juice of 1/2 small lemon

1/4 cup of Parmesan

1/2 Cup Oil(Extra Virgin Olive Oil or Rice Bran Oil)

3 tablespoons of finely crushed/chopped Almonds

2 cloves of garlic

1 1/2 cups chopped Rocket - go for 2 if you like.

Zest off 1/4 a lemon - go for 1/2 if you like.

Sea Salt and ground pepper. - Enough for your taste.

Prep:

Chop the Rocket to as small as you can get it - set aside

Grate Parmesan - set aside

Zest Lemon - set aside

Grind salt and pepper - set aside

Chop Garlic as small as you can get it - don't use a garlic mincer - then set aside

Juice lemon - set aside

Grind Almonds in motor and pestle(or smash up using tea towel and fry pan) - set aside

Place all ingredients in a bowl with oil, and mix gently till combined. Add more of any ingredient to adjust to your taste - for those that can't do cheese, add more Almonds in place of the cheese.

Don't forget to have fun.

Prawn & Coppa Tagliatelle

This is my can't go wrong pasta... the combination of seafood and cured pork make for a sauce that not only is tasty, produces a fantastic aroma. Substitute Prawns for Fish, Coppa for Bacon - whatever, but get these 2 flavors rolling around on your plate, and you will have no regrets.

Cooking time:

15 mins to prep ingredients, about 20 mins cooking time. (You start to cook the sauce when you put the water on to boil for the Pasta)

Big hints for a winning result:

Prawns:

Slice them as you desire for apparence on the dish... however, perfectly cooked Prawns should "pop" in your mouth when you eat them - if you have a meat texture - such as orange pre cooked Prawns(which that texture is reserved for), you have over cooked them. Lastly, soak the Prawns(while shells are on) in a little water while prepping - a couple of tablespoons of this Prawn "liqour" into the end result sauce will give a terrific seafood undertone.

Garlic:

For a bigger Garlic flavour, chop it, dont mince it.... and add it to onions, saute for 1 minute before adding Pasata sauce.

Coppa:

Ask the deli to have it sliced as thinly as possible - as it's going into the dish raw/cold.

Salt:

As there is salty ingredients - Coppa and Prawns, use a milder salt such as Murray River Pink salt - which you will find allows you to use a little extra during seasoning without risk of over salting.

Pasta:

The more water you cook your Pasta in the better the result.

Ingredients -

1 tablespoon of Butter

1 tablespoon of Balsamic Vinegar(not the caramalised version)

1 good lug of Olive Oil for Onions

4 Anchovies - including 1 dash of the Anchovie oil

4 cloves of Garlic, crushed & chopped

3 medium sized Onions (white for best results)

500 mls of Pasata sauce(Tomato puree)

1 cup of roughly chopped flat leaf Parsley

1/2 cup of roughly chopped fresh Basil

16 green Prawns chopped on the diagonal - into 3 pieces

12 thin slices of Coppa sliced into bite sized lengths.

Tagliatelle - 4 serves.

Salt n Pepper for seasoning

Prep:

1. Get your Pasta water on for the boil - this will be a quick sauce to make.

2. Saute Onions and Anchovies in the Olive Oil(with dash of Anchovie oil), until onions are translucent/soft.

3. Add Garlic, saute for 1 min.

4. Add Basil, saute for further 30 seconds.

5. Add Pasata sauce.

6. Immediately add water from Prawns to the sauce.

7. Season with Salt n Pepper.

8. Simmer until Pasta water has boiled, add Pasta then IMMEDIATELY turn sauce off the heat. Add Butter, Balsamic & prawns to sauce, place a lid on the pan, and let the prawns steep.

9. Once the Pasta is cooked, add 1 laddle of the pasta water to the sauce, drain then place immediately into a large mixing bowl, add the Tomato sauce, Coppa & Parsley.

Toss and serve.

Feel free to let me know how you went, or any suggestions to enhance this simple recipe....

Cheers

Andy