You know it's spring when the food in your pantry takes on a healthy shade of green.
Before it feels like winter has really started to fade, the signs of spring are already at the market with peas and broad beans leading the charge.
Though commonly thought a hazard, cooked mussels that haven't opened can be perfectly fine. Once cooked, open them carefully with a knife. If they smell bright and clean and are properly cooked, they're good to use.
Extra virgin olive oil
Breadcrumbs - 2 thin slices sourdough (crusts removed), whizzed in a processor
Salt flakes
Freshly ground black pepper
200ml dry white wine
1.5kg mussels, scrubbed and de-bearded
4 cloves garlic, sliced
300ml cream
250g quality small macaroni or tubetti, cooked al dente
3/4 cup freshly podded peas, smashed lightly in a mortar and pestle
1/2 lemon
1. In a little oil, fry the breadcrumbs until golden, season and crush in a mortar and pestle to a rough powder.
2. In a large pot, bring the wine to the boil, tip in the mussels, cover and cook for a few minutes, shaking the pot once or twice. Stir the mussels through so they cook evenly - you can remove cooked mussels to make room to finish the cooking more evenly. Once the mussels are nice and plump, take off the heat, strain and reserve the liquid. Remove half the mussels from their shells and keep the others on the half-shell.
3. In a large pot or saute pan, add a splash of oil and fry the garlic until fragrant and taking on some colour. Add the mussel liquid and bring to the boil, then reduce over a high heat for a couple of minutes. Add the cream and a few grinds of pepper and boil for another minute. Add the pasta and mussels and bring back to a simmer. Stir through the peas and cook for 30 seconds. Squeeze in the lemon, check the seasoning (you probably won't need any extra salt as the mussels are quite salty), scatter over the breadcrumbs and serve.
Serves 4
Drink Riesling
This is a vibrant and fresh minestrone, in which the green vegetables sing. It's the perfect way to celebrate the new season - nothing says spring like asparagus, peas and broad beans, but feel free to use other spring greens.
50ml extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to serve
50g butter
1 brown onion, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, finely sliced
5 Dutch carrots, finely sliced
1 celery heart (the pale inner stalks of a bunch of celery), finely sliced
Salt flakes
Freshly ground black pepper
1 small bulb fennel, finely diced
2 zucchinis, sliced
1 bunch asparagus, sliced in rounds
12 green beans, cut into short lengths
1 litre quality chicken stock
1x400g tin cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
3/4 cup podded fresh peas
3 handfuls double-podded broad beans
1/2 bunch parsley, chopped
Rocket and basil pesto
50g basil leaves
50g rocket
20g parsley leaves
50g pine nuts
100g grana padano or parmesan, finely grated
1 clove garlic, chopped
180ml extra virgin olive oil
Salt flakes
Freshly ground black pepper
1. For the pesto, place the herbs, rocket, pine nuts, cheese and garlic in a food processor and process until fine. Scrape the mix from the sides of the bowl, add the oil and process until smooth. Season to taste.
2. For the minestrone, in a large wide-based pot, heat the olive oil and butter. Add the onion, garlic, carrot and celery, season and cook over a medium to low heat until softened and becoming sticky, but not quite caramelised.
3. Add the fennel, zucchini, asparagus and green beans. Turn up the heat and saute for a few minutes.
4. Add the stock, 500ml of water and the canned beans, stir and bring to the boil. Add the peas, broad beans and parsley and cook for another minute or so - the vegetables should be bright and just cooked. Take off the heat and check and adjust the seasoning. To serve, top with a dollop of pesto and a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
Serves 4-6
Tip Store any leftover pesto in a jar under a layer of olive oil to stop it oxidising.
Drink Sauvignon blanc
This is a version of the classic Greek spinach and cheese pie, spanakopita. I love the mix of greens, with the peppery rocket and textural silverbeet adding depth to the traditional spinach.
150g butter
1/2 brown onion, finely diced
5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 bunch silverbeet, chopped in 2cm pieces, including most of the stem
200g spinach
200g rocket
1/2 bunch parsley, roughly chopped
Salt flakes
Freshly ground black pepper
3 eggs
375g fresh ricotta
150g feta
1/2 bunch dill, finely chopped
5 gratings of nutmeg
1 packet filo pastry
30g pistachios, chopped
1. Preheat oven to 180C fan-forced or 200C conventional.
2. In a large pot over medium heat, add a small knob of butter and cook the onion and garlic for six minutes or until softened. Add the silverbeet, stir through, cover and cook for 15 minutes over a low heat.
3. Add the spinach, rocket and parsley to the pot and mix through. Cook for a further five minutes or so, stirring now and then, until the greens are wilted. Season. Tip into a sieve and press lightly to drain the excess liquid from the greens. Allow to cool for five minutes, then chop.
4. To a large bowl add the eggs, ricotta, crumbled feta, dill and nutmeg. Season with salt and pepper and mix together. Then mix through the chopped greens.
5. Melt the remaining butter and brush the sheets of filo as you lay them into a buttered baking dish, carefully pushing the pastry into the corners and leaving enough overhanging to form a lid - laying in two sheets at a time (brushing every second sheet on the inside of the dish) will stop the pastry tearing. Twenty sheets should be enough, depending on the shape and size of your dish.
6. Tip the pie mix into the dish and flatten out evenly. Fold in the overhanging layers, brushing the sheets with butter as you go. You may have a gap in the centre of the pie, which you can fill with some buttered and folded sheets. Brush the top of the pie, scatter over the pistachios and bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden.
Serves 6-8
Tip Buy chilled filo, which won't crack and become as brittle as the frozen version. It's available at most supermarkets.
Drink Assyrtiko, a Greek white from Santorini, or semillon
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