Wild Garlic Tagliatelle, Walnut & Spinach Pesto

Homemade tagliatelle is given a seasonal twist with the addition of wild garlic, turning it a welcoming bright green. An earthy spinach pesto with walnuts and pecorino compliments this vegetarian dish.

Ingredients

For the pasta:

• 30g wild garlic

• 2 eggs

• 150g 00 flour

• 50g Semolina flour

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

For the pesto:

• 200g spinach

• 100g walnuts

• 20g breadcrumbs

• 150ml extra virgin olive oil

• 1/3 cups milk

• 1/2 white onion

• 2 garlic cloves, crushed

• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

• 30g freshly grated Pecorino cheese

• 10g freshly grated parmesan

• Salt & Pepper to taste

Method

For the pasta:

In a large heavy bottomed pan, bring water to a rolling boil.

Blanch wild garlic in the boiling water for 30 seconds. Drain completely and allow to cool. Once cooled, remove final excess moisture by patting it with kitchen towel until completely dry.

In a food processor - blitz the wild garlic with the eggs and the olive oil until it’s a fine green paste. 

In a large bowl, mix the flours and the salt until combined. Make a well in the centre of the flours, and pour the liquid egg mix in.

With a fork, begin to slowly circle around the edges and bring the flour into the middle, mixing the flour into the liquid gradually.

Once the mixture is fully combined, tip the dough into the counter and continue to work it with your hands, for around 10 minutes. Kneading will bring the dough together. It may feel wet at first but further working the dough will bring it to the right consistency. Dough is done when it feels elastic and smooth with no patches of flour anywhere. Wrap in clingfilm and let rest in fridge for a minimum of half an hour. 

Once dough is rested, remove from fridge and flour a large work surface. Divide dough into 6 pieces. Flatten each piece with your hand, then use a rolling pin to roll each piece to a rectangle of roughly 7mm thickness.

If you have a pasta machine, begin to feed the dough into the machine. Starting with the highest setting, and running the dough twice in each setting, work your way down to 2mm. This will be ideal for spaghetti, tagliatelle or linguini. Run the finished pasta sheets through the desired cutting setting of the machine. 

If you do not have a pasta machine, use the rolling pin to stretch the dough down to 2mm thickness. Once dough has reached desired thickness, roll the furthest two extremities of the rectangle towards each other, meeting in the middle. With a large sharp knife, slice across the rolls to desired width of pasta strand.  

To cook straight away, bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil (water should be salty like the sea). When fully boiling, put pasta in and cook for 2 minutes. Drain. 

Fresh pasta can be stored in an air tight container for up to 2 days in the fridge. 

For the pesto:

In a medium saucepan on medium-low heat, fry the onions in 2 tablespoons of olive oil until they begin to soften. Add the crushed garlic, turn the heat to low, then continue to cook, stirring from time to time, until the onions have become soft and transparent (but not browned).

Add the spinach and nutmeg, stirring continuously, until the spinach has completely softened - around 5-10 minutes.

Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

In a small bowl, place the breadcrumbs, then add the milk. Stir to combine, then set aside to absorb.

In a food processor, blitz the walnuts until a fine crumb.

Add the spinach/onion mixture, blitz to combine. Add the soaked breadcrumbs, the Pecorino and Parmesan, and the olive oil, and blitz until you have a smooth paste. Add salt and pepper to taste.

To finish the dish - in a large pan on medium high heat, bring a pan of very salted water to a boil.

When the water is boiling, add the tagliatelle and stir briefly so the pasta is completely submerged..Wait until the water comes back into a rolling boil, and allow pasta to cook for 1 minute.

Drain the pasta, making sure to save the starchy pasta water in a cup or jar.

Return pasta to the pan, drizzle with a bit of olive oil, stir, then add 3-4 tablespoons of the pesto. Stir to combine, then add 1/3 cup of the the pasta water to loosen the sauce and make it creamy.

Serve immediately with more freshly grated parmesan.