Nasturtium Pasta Merguez, Olive and Manouri

5 from 1 vote

Spring is a wonderful time of year when you look forward to beautiful days, sunshine, and spending time outside after baring the winter temperatures. Normally Texas winters are not so severe but this year with snowmeggedon was definitely an exceptions In southern California they finally got the rain they desperately needed. Spring is always a time for lamb and in California the hills are starting to be covered in wild nasturtiums.

Here is a pasta dish inspired by the wild nasturtiums and mediterranean flavors of merguez, olive, and manouri cheese. Jp absolutely loved this dish and it is definitely a keeper. I absolutely love these flavors especially manouri cheese with the spicy sausage. Here is the recipe, I hope you enjoy it!

Ingredients

4 people

Nasturtium pasta

2 cup nasturtium leaves
3 eggs
2 1/2 cup flour
1 tbsp olive oil

Green olive tapenade (see recipe)

Merguez

2 lb lamb shoulder boneless or ground lamb
4 cloves garlic
5 oz harissa paste
3 tbsp harissa spice
3 tbsp cumin ground
2 tsp fennel
1 tsp chili flakes
3 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp coriander ground
1 salt to taste (4-5 tsp of salt)

For the pasta

1 cup peas blanched
1 cup snap peas blanched and cut in 1/3
2 oz manouri cheese
16 oz merguez sausage above or store bought
1/4 cup capers fried
1/3 cup Nasturtium to garnish

Nutritional information

Calories: 641kcalCarbohydrates: 81gProtein: 46gFat: 13gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 214mgSodium: 1126mgPotassium: 991mgFiber: 9gSugar: 9gVitamin A: 1625IUVitamin C: 53mgCalcium: 133mgIron: 11mg

Prep Time 1 10

Cook Time 35

Total Time 1 45

Servings 4 people

For the Pasta

Take two cups of nasturtium leaves and place the in a blender with the eggs and olive oil. Puree everything until smooth and green. Pour the mixture into the center of a bowl. Place 2 1/2 cups of flour around the outer edge of the spinach in the bowl.
With a fork stir the flour into nasturtium mixture until it starts to form a ball of dough. Then use your hands to form the dough. Add more flour if the dough is wet. Knead the pasta for 5 minutes and then cover and rest for at least 30 minutes.
Take your pasta and cut in half. Leave one half covered while you work with the other half. Take one half of the pasta with a rolling pin and roll until the dough is thin enough to fit inside the biggest setting on your pasta machine.
Then run the pasta all the way down to the lowest setting twice. Then on the third time run it down to the second to last setting. Use a little flour for dusting. Then you can make any shape you want pappardelle, fettuccini, farfalle, garganelli etc... I made fettuccini.

For the Merguez

Grind lamb shoulder with garlic through a meat grinder. First through a coarse grind and then through a fine grind setting. Then add all of your spices and season with salt and pepper. Take a small pan and cook 1 oz of the sausage to make sure the sausage taste good. Adjust the seasoning if need be and set in the refrigerator until ready to use

To Finish

Take a pot of salted water and bring to a boil. Meanwhile in a hot saute pan add little oil and the merguez sausage. Cook for 3-4 minutes and then add the pasta (4 portions) to the water. Boil for 2 minutes or until it floats to the top of the water.
Strain out the pasta and place in the pan with the merguez. Add the peas, snap peas, and 2-3 tbsp of green olive tapenade. Toss for another minute and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Divide pasta into 4 bowls. Finish with fried capers, grated manouri cheese, and lots of nasturtium flowers and petals. Serve and enjoy!