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Fettuccine with beetroot and nettle butter

Fettuccine with beetroot and nettle butter

Stinging nettles have the greenest flavour imaginable. A good Italian grocer should be able to get them for you; if you’re picking them wild, be sure to use gloves – they’re not called stinging nettles for nothing. Use only the tender small leaves and remove any seeds or flowers. If you can’t find nettles, go without the nettle butter and use a good amount of extra-virgin olive oil in its place.

Fettuccine with beetroot and nettle butter

Serves 6
Cooking Time Prep time 30 mins, cook 1 hr 25 mins (plus resting)
3   baby beetroot with leaves
2 tbsp   olive oil, plus extra to serve
3   garlic cloves, thinly sliced
To serve:   crumbled soft goat’s cheese or finely grated parmesan
Pasta dough
500 gm   “00” flour
2   eggs
3   egg yolks
Nettle butter
100 gm   butter, softened
100 gm   stinging nettle leaves, washed thoroughly


1 Preheat oven to 220C. Trim beetroot (reserve leaves) and place in a roasting pan, drizzle with half the olive oil and season to taste. Add 125ml water to pan, cover with foil and roast until tender (1 hour-1 hour 15 minutes). Cool, peel, thinly slice and set aside.
2 Meanwhile, for pasta dough, process ingredients and a generous pinch of salt in a food processor. Gradually add 80-120ml water or enough to bring dough together without becoming too sticky. Process until a ball forms, turn onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth (3-5 minutes). Cover and set aside at room temperature to rest (20-30 minutes). Cut dough into four pieces, then, working with one piece at a time, feed dough through pasta machine rollers starting at the widest setting, flouring dough as you go, folding and feeding through, reducing settings notch by notch until you reach the second-last setting. Feed pasta through fettuccine cutter, transfer to a flour-dusted tray and repeat with remaining pasta. Set aside.
3 For nettle butter, melt 20gm butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add nettles (reserving a small handful for serving) and cook, stirring occasionally, until just wilted (2 minutes). Cool, then process in a food processor with remaining butter, season to taste and set aside.
4 Cook pasta in boiling salted water until al dente (2-4 minutes). Drain and return to pan to keep warm.
5 Meanwhile, heat a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add remaining olive oil and garlic and cook until just fragrant (10-20 seconds), add nettle butter and beetroot leaves and cook until butter is fragrant and leaves wilt (1-2 minutes). Toss through reserved nettle leaves and beetroot and then toss through pasta. Serve immediately, scattered with goat’s cheese or parmesan and drizzled with olive oil.


Drink Suggestion Lagrein.

RECIPE Lisa Featherby PHOTOGRAPHY Sharyn Cairns STYLING Megan Morton and Lisa Featherby DRINK SUGGESTION Max Allen


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