Friday, July 25, 2008

Pea Pesto

Speaking of peas, this pea pesto is great with pasta or as a dip. I don't have a real recipe, Caleb had it at a party once and loved it so we tried to recreate it.

Basically just make pesto but use peas (fresh or frozen) instead of basil. so good. so fresh. I didn't measure the ingredients, but I think this recipe is close to what I did (basil replaced with peas). Simply Recipes. You should just taste it as you make it.
  • 2 cups uncooked fresh or frozen peas (I used a whole bag frozen)
  • 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese
  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts (i think almonds would be nice too but that's coming from an almond farmer's daughter)
  • 3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 Combine the basil in with the pine nuts, pulse a few times in a food processor. (If you are using walnuts instead of pine nuts and they are not already chopped, pulse them a few times first, before adding the basil.) Add the garlic, pulse a few times more.

2 Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

5 comments:

ambf said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
ambf said...

haha! you totally beat me to the bunch. Last night John and I made a second batch of pea shoot pesto (using pea tendrils instead of peas). We made some a month or so ago and loved it on pasta, sandwiches (as a spread), and even on pizza.

Here is our recipe:

2 cups pea shoots (packed)
1/2 cup almonds (toasted)
juice of 1 lemon
lemon zest
handful (or so) of mint
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
2 garlic cloves, minced
olive oil to taste
salt and pepper to taste

Use the same preparation method you described.

So fresh and green!

ambf said...

P.S. - Simply Recipes is one of my favorite sites. EVERYTHING I have tried from that site has been fantastic. Do you have any favorites from Elise?

Daphne said...

ha! that's so funny! i was looking through my photos today and found that one of the pea pesto...got me posting. thanks for your recipe too. i like the idea of lemon and mint in it.

Anonymous said...

yum! a neat way to get my kids to eat their veggies on pasta. haha. yum.

i do a similar type of idea using these flavors with fresh or frozen blanched peas and dollops of pesto tossed with spinach leaves and pine nuts. i have also used almonds! mmm.