Sea Palm Fettuccine with Pumpkin Seed Pesto

From Send Me to Seaweed Camp!

 

From Tanya Stiller’s newsletter: “Seaweeds: A Forager’s Guide to the West Coast’s Wild Sea Vegetables.”

When soaked in water, sea palm fronds expand from thin, crunchy sticks to long, flat bands—like fettuccine—that you can dress up with your favorite sauce, like this tangy pumpkin seed pesto. If you don’t have the opportunity to forage your own, look for dried, packaged seaweeds at your local market.

Serves 4

• 2 ounces sea palm fronds
• ¼ cup pine nuts
• 2 tablespoons ghee or olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2½ cups water
• 3 cups vegetables*
• Sea salt to taste
• Lemon juice to taste
• Pumpkin Seed Pesto (recipe follows)
• Cilantro sprigs for garnish

Soak the sea palm fronds in a large bowl of water for 20 minutes to rehydrate, and make the Pumpkin Seed Pesto while you wait.

Toast the pine nuts in a medium-hot skillet for 3-4 minutes and set aside. Also roast or sauté any vegetables you want to add. *Roasted cauliflower florets contrast nicely against the dark seaweed, or try sautéed zucchini, oyster mushrooms, cut in chiffonade, julienned carrots, or any combination you might like.

Heat the olive oil or ghee in a saucepan as you drain the rehydrated sea palm. Sauté the fronds with the chopped garlic for 3 minutes. Add water and simmer until tender, about 10 minutes.

When the sea palm fronds are tender, drain and toss with the prepared vegetables. Stir in the toasted pine nuts along with lemon juice and salt to taste. Top with a dollop of pesto and garnish of cilantro sprigs.

Pumpkin Seed Pesto

Makes about 1¼ cups

• 1 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1 bunch of cilantro
• 2 tablespoons olive oil or flax oil
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Sea salt to taste

Heat a skillet on medium high and toast pumpkin seeds until they puff up, about 1-2 minutes. Blend in a blender or food processor along with remaining pesto ingredients until smooth. Add salt to taste.