Warrigal Pesto

MAKES: 1 CUP (approx)
PREP TIME: 10 minutes

Warrigal greens can be found along Australia’s coastline. An incredibly versatile, easy-to-grow vegetable, warrigal greens have a fresh, grassy flavour with a slightly bitter finish.

It can be substituted in any recipe that uses spinach, chard or Asian greens – the leaves handle heat well, making warrigal greens ideal for stir-fries and even better, pesto.

INGRDIENTS

2 cups Warrigal greens, (blanched)
80g pine nuts, lightly toasted (or 25g raw macadamia nuts)
1 garlic clove, crushed
30g grated (vegan) parmesan
1 tbsp lemon juice
80ml olive oil
1 tsp ground saltbush
Freshly ground black pepper

METHOD

Bring a saucepan of water to the boil. Blanch the warrigal greens for 1 minute then strain and add the leaves to a bowl of iced water to stop the cooking process.

Leave for about one minute then strain in a colander discarding the water. The leaves should still be vibrant green in colour. Lay the warrigal greens on a clean tea towel and pat dry.

Once cooled squeeze out excess liquid and roughly chop.

Place all the ingredients in a food processor and blitz until smooth; add extra oil if too thick.

Place in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to use.