Many thanks to Roberta for sharing this recipe from her website Be Inspired

I first saw purslane in a Cypriot friend’s garden and was surprised when they later presented me with a bowl of the tangy, succulent leaves as a salad. I came across it again years later as a delicious purslane pesto in one of my favourite restaurants in Santarcangelo di Romagna, which inspired this recipe. It’s easy, delicious and really creamy, due to the succulent nature of the leaves. A few different plants go by the name purslane; the one I use for purslane pesto is Portulaca oleracea, a low growing succulent also known as summer purslane. Summer purslane is found throughout the Middle East, southern Europe and India as well as Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia and North America. It’s so wide spread and easy to grow that it’s sometimes considered a weed. Winter purslane (Claytonia perfoliate) has finer stems and is native to western North America where it’s also called miner’s lettuce or Indian lettuce. I haven’t eaten it, but I have seen recipes for purslane pesto using it, so you could give it a try although it isn’t a succulent so I suspect the result won’t be as creamy. Take this simple pasta dish to the next level with a glass of Juniper Estate Cornerstone Wilyabrup Chardonnay. One of the new-style chardonnays that walk the line between lean Chablis and fuller-bodied Aussie chardy, it has great acid to cut through the richness of this creamy purslane pesto.

Purslane Pesto & Farfalle

Serves 6 as a starter

Ingredients

200g summer purslane (7oz)

¼ cup pine nuts (40g/1½oz)

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon salt flakes

60g freshly grated Grana Padano or Parmigiano Reggiano (2oz)

½ cup extra virgin olive oil (125ml)

500g farfalle (or other pasta)

Method

Pick the purslane leaves, fine stalks and buds, discarding the thick stems.

Rinse them and dry well.

Blitz pine nuts, garlic, salt and cheese in a small food processor (or using a stick blender) until finely chopped.

Add purslane and oil and blitz unto a creamy paste.

Transfer to a large mixing bowl and set aside.

Bring a large saucepan of well salted water to the boil using 10g salt / litre water (⅓oz salt / 2 pints water).

Cook pasta according to packet instructions then drain well, reserving some of the cooking water.

Acting quickly, while the pasta is still as hot as possible, stir a couple of tablespoons of pasta cooking water into the purslane pesto in the mixing bowl.

Add pasta and toss to coat well.

Transfer to shallow bowls and serve immediately