Markets, pasta and pudding

Last Saturday's North Sydney Produce Market was a great catch up with our lovely regulars but thanks to a few unwelcome rain-showers, it wasn't what you'd call a record-breaking sales 'event'.

Not to worry. We returned with some beautiful produce and spent much of Sunday cooking and consuming it. First up was this fresh pasta with venison chorizo, crushed peas and hot mustard cress, (recipe below). Then we used up a few rhubarb stalks in the below pudding, which honestly is the easiest thing to make and just about the best to eat.

Fresh pasta with venison chorizo, crushed peas and mustard cress

Thanks to the peas, a squeeze of lemon and the spicy mustard cress, this is a lighter version of the sausage pastas we often make. And it's really good. If you don't have the time or inclination to make your own fresh pasta, of course use dried fettuccine instead. And in place of the mustard cress, you can always sub in a handful of peppery rocket or mustard greens. 

'Pip's fresh pasta dough
5 eggs
500g 'OO' Flour

Place both ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer with a dough hook and knead for about eight minutes, or until the mixture is soft and elastic. You can of course do this by hand too, though it is a fair old arm workout and those eight minutes do seem to go rather slowly.

1 brown onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 x Mandagery Creek Venison chorizo sausages, sliced into 1cm rounds (of course you could use others if you don't have any of ours on hand....)
1 cup fresh or frozen peas, cooked and lightly crushed by the back of a fork
Juice of one lemon
1 cup mustard cress (ours came from Darling Mills)
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Meanwhile, heat a little olive oil in a heavy-based saucepan over medium and cook the onions for a few minutes, until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for another couple of minutes. Stirring regularly. Scrape the onion and garlic mixture into a little bowl, return the frying pan to heat and throw in the sausage discs. Cook these for a couple minutes on each side. Reduce the heat a little then add the crushed peas, onion and garlic mix and toss to combine.

To cook the pasta, simply throw it in the pot of boiling water and cook for a few minutes if using freshly made pasta or according to packet instructions if not. Toss the drained, hot pasta with the sausage mixture and drizzle with a little extra olive oil if the whole thing is looking a touch dry. Transfer to a warm serving plate, top with the mustard cress, a good squeeze of lemon and lots of freshly grated parmesan. Serve immediately.

Rhubarb and lemon 'pudding'

This is a really delicious, but old-school pudding. It's not at all posh, but something you might make as a family treat or to cap off an informal supper with good friends. You can swap the rhubarb with fresh berries, orange segments or other seasonal fruit, but try to avoid anything too sweet. Make this at least four hours or up to a day ahead to allow the lemon juice to 'set' the condensed milk and yogurt into a thick and creamy pud. Serves 4-6.

1 x 400g can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cups Greek-style yogurt
Juice and zest of four lemons

4 stalks rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 2cm pieces
3 tbsp caster sugar
Zest and juice of two lemons

6 Digestive or Gingerbut biscuits

For the pudding, combine all ingredients and stir well. Pour into serving glasses or pots, cover with plastic and refrigerate for at least four hours. For the rhubarb, place all ingredients in a saucepan over medium-low heat and cook, stirring often, until rhubarb is soft but not entirely collapsed.

Just before serving, top the pudding with warm rhubarb and sprinkle over the biscuits.