Homemade spinach pasta with macadamia pesto sauce and purple asparagus.

Directions

• Macadamia pesto: Prepare a bowl of ice water. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Put the basil in a sieve and plunge it into the boiling water, pushing the leaves down into the water and stirring them so they blanch evenly.
  Blanch for 10 seconds, then plunge it into the ice water to stop the cooking. Drain immediately, squeeze the basil dry, then set aside.
  Place macadamia nuts, cheese, garlic and lemon zest in a blender or food processor and pulse until finely ground, about 1 minute. Add basil, with the motor running, add oil in a slow and steady stream until pesto is mostly smooth, but still has some texture, pausing to scrape down the sides as necessary. Season with salt, black pepper and lemon juice.
• Homemade spinach pasta: Put baby spinach in the pan of boiling water, and allow it to boil for about 10 seconds until you see bright green colour. Chill it slightly, then drain the spinach well and just squeeze the leaves to remove as much of the water as you can. Chop blanched spinach finely or blitz using a food processor.
  Mix the flour with salt. Place the flour on a board or in a bowl. Make a well in the centre and crack the eggs into it, add chopped spinach, beat with a fork until smooth.
  Using the tips of your fingers, mix the eggs with the flour, incorporating a little at a time, until everything is combined and knead into a smooth green dough.
  This will take roughly 5 minutes.
  Note: If your dough is on the dry side you can add a little water to bring it together. If your dough is too soft add some flour.
  Wrap the dough in cling film and put it in the fridge to rest for at least half an hour before you use it. The pasta will be much more elastic after resting than it was before.
• Roll out the pasta dough into tagliatelle shape, either by hand or using a pasta maker, adding extra semolina flour as needed to prevent sticking. Then dust some semolina flour over the sliced strips of dough and unravel them to reveal your fresh pasta. Then transfer the cut pasta to a drying rack, or swirl it into little pasta “nests” and lay them on a floured surface to dry for 30 minutes. Cook the pasta in a large pot of generously-salted boiling water until it is al dente, usually between 1-5 minutes depending on the thickness of your pasta. Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water. Drain, and use immediately.
• Combine pasta with pesto and sliced purple asparagus, add some hot pasta water, toss it gently. Serve on pasta plate. Drizzle pasta with olive oil, sprinkle with extra grated cheese and garnish with fresh basil leaves. Enjoy!