Pea Pesto
A fresh, sweet and very elegant tasting sauce made from young peas and spicy herbs. Delicious on a cracker or toasted slice of bread, but just as good as a pasta sauce.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup frozen shelled peas (6 ounces), thawed
- 1/2 cup Pecorino Romano cheese, finely grated
- 2 tablespoons shelled roasted pistachios, unsalted or lightly salted
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 small lemon
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
Directions
Recipe instructions Pea Pesto
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Step 1
Place the peas, pistachios, and garlic in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Pulse until roughly chopped, about 10 pulses.
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Step 2
Finely grate the zest of the lemon into the food processor. Halve the lemon and squeeze the juice into the food processor (about 2 tablespoons). Add the grated cheese, olive oil, and salt.
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Step 3
Process the pesto, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl halfway through, until the mixture comes together into a rough paste, about 30 seconds. Taste and season with additional salt as needed. Refrigerated leftover pesto in an airtight container for up to 1 week. It won’t brown like basil pesto, so there is no need to cover the surface with olive oil. Alternatively, you can freeze the pesto in an airtight container or in ice cube trays (once frozen, transfer the cubes to a zip-top bag) for up to 6 months.
Thaw frozen peas by placing them in a bowl in the refrigerator overnight, or just let them sit on the counter at room temperature until mostly thawed (it's okay if they're still cold), which will take about 20 to 30 minutes, depending on the temperature in your kitchen.
