Warrigal greens pesto spaghetti
Bring Australian native ingredients to your menu with this warrigal greens pesto pasta. Featuring native mountain pepper berry and warrigal greens - it's a culinary fusion and nutritious delight.
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VG
Vegan
V
Vegetarian
NF
Nut free
LF
Lactose free
FS
Fish and shellfish free
EF
Egg free
DF
Dairy free
Main meal
Ingredients
Serves
people
Acknowledgement: This recipe was adapted from 2022 Healthy Eating Advisory Service long day care recipe competition - entry by Flemington Street Childcare Centre
Method
- Preheat oven to 200°C. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Place unpeeled onion and garlic on the prepared tray and lightly spray with oil. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until onion is tender. Once cool enough to handle, peel onion and discard skins. Slice the end off the garlic cloves and squeeze the roasted garlic out.
- Meanwhile, cook spaghetti according to packet instructions. Drain and return to the same pot.
- In a large food processor, process tofu, warrigal greens and basil until smooth. Add lemon juice, roasted onion and garlic and pepper berry, to taste. Process until combined.
- In a large, deep frying pan, heat oil on medium-high heat. Cook mushrooms, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until golden. Add beans and tomatoes and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until combined and heated through.
- Add warrigal pesto sauce and bean mixture to the spaghetti and stir over low heat to combine and heat through.
- Serve spaghetti in bowls or serving trays.
Allergy, intolerance, and dietary preference modifications
- For gluten free – use a gluten-free variety of pasta instead of wheat-based spaghetti
This recipe does not account for potential contamination that may occur through manufacturing and processing. Ingredients in this recipe may still have precautionary allergen food labelling (e.g. “may contain traces of”).
When preparing this recipe, it is important to:
- double-check the label of ingredients every time you make it
- prevent any contamination during preparation, cooking and serving.
Recipe tips
- Use any variety of pasta you have on hand.
- Warrigal greens are bush tucker greens and are commonly used as you would use baby spinach leaves. If your warrigal greens come on the vine, you can turn this into a cooking activity and get the children involved in helping to pick the leaves off the vine, as this can be time consuming. It’s also a great way to educate them about the ingredient. If you cannot source warrigal greens you can use baby spinach leaves instead.
- Mountain pepper is commonly known as native pepper, Tasmanian pepper, pepper berry and pepperleaf. Use this as you would normal black pepper and add to taste, as it has a bit of a kick to it. If you cannot source native mountain pepper berry you can use freshly ground black pepper instead.
- For larger serves, you will need to cook the ingredients in batches or across 2-4 large, deep frying pans and pots.
Each serve provides
| Food group | Children’s serves |
|---|---|
| Vegetables | 1 children’s serve |
| Meat/ alternatives | 1.1 children’s serve |
| Grains | 1.2 children's serve |
The nutritional information provided is based on the exact ingredients and method as shown. Any variation/s to the ingredients or method may alter the nutritional outcome.
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Allergy resources
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Low allergy items to stock the pantry
Plan a menu
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Introduction to food allergy and intolerance
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The Healthy Eating Advisory Service acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land on which we operate. We pay our respects to them, their culture and their Elders past and present.
The Healthy Eating Advisory Service is delivered by experienced nutritionists and dietitians at Nutrition Australia Vic Division, with support from the Victorian Government.
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