Rolled veal with Warrigal greens pesto

This veal dish uses Warrigal greens that are native to the east coast of Australia, but can be substituted with English spinach. Chef Mark Olive recommends flattening the veal out to 5mm thick with a mallet to make the rolling process easier.

Credit: Derek Swalwell

• serves

  4

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 140 g (2 cups firmly packed) Warrigal greens (see Note)
• 40 g (½ cup) grated parmesan
• 45 g (⅓ cup) macadamias, roasted
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 60 ml (¼ cup) olive oil, plus extra, to cook
• 4 x 500 g veal steaks
• macadamia oil and salad greens, to serve

Drink 2010 Henschke Lenswood 'Giles' Pinot Noir ($55).

Instructions

To make pesto, bring a pan of water to the boil. Blanch greens for 3 minutes, then refresh in a bowl of iced water. Squeeze out excess liquid and roughly chop. Process with parmesan, nuts, lemon juice and olive oil in a food processor until smooth; add extra oil if too thick. Season with salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 190°C. Place each piece of veal between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and, using a meat mallet, flatten veal to 5 mm thick. Remove plastic wrap and spread veal with pesto. Roll up tightly to form a log, secure with toothpicks and rub with extra olive oil.

Heat a heavy-based frying pan over high heat. Brown veal, turning, for 3 minutes. Transfer veal to an oven tray lined with baking paper and roast for 5 minutes or until cooked through or to your liking. Cover loosely with foil and rest for 5 minutes. Slice each roll on the diagonal into 3 pieces, drizzle with macadamia oil and serve with salad greens.

Note

• Warrigal greens are native to the east coast of Australia. I Love Warrigal Greens (ilovewarrigalgreens.com.au) sells them fresh and frozen. Substitute English spinach.

Photography by Derek Swalwell.

As seen in Feast magazine, Jan 2012, Issue 5.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.