Freeze, please.
Now then. A pea pesto may appear to be a spring recipe. Those fresh peas, straight from the farmer’s market? The delightful one you walk to as soon as the weather permits and the ground erupts with new growth? Yes, yes. I like those too!
But, what do we do when the only thing that’s erupting is the sky and it’s dropping snow down on us? Or, like here in Portland, it’s torrents of rain? I’ll tell you what I do–I open the freezer.
Melt my heart.
The freezer holds a special place in my heart, you see. Maybe because they’re both icy (I kid, I kid…). The freezer, to me, is the utmost in utilitarian kindness. Think of the possibilities of what you can feed yourself from the freezer at ANY time: meats! Fruits! Baked goods! And of course, frozen vegetables. One of my most cherished frozen veggies is the green pea, too. From age five to age 29, peas and I are still buddies. Two peas in a pod, dare I say.
Ok, keep reading.
The frozen green pea is one of my freezer heroes because it can be turned into options like this Green Pea Pesto. Nothing fancy, totally green and nutrient-packed and you decide what you load it up on. Seen here are some gluten-free noodles, the pesto and small tomatoes I had around the kitchen. But you could slice and toast French bread and offer a schmear of pesto atop, too. You could take sliced crunchy veggies and dip them straight in. Maybe you’d even finish a tray of roasted vegetables or a baked potato with dollops of the pesto.
Let it amuse you, this savior of the freezer.
Green Pea Pesto
Ingredients
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 cup parsley leaves roughly chopped (you may also use basil if you prefer)
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- juice of 1/2 lemon about 2 tablespoons
- 1/4 cup pine nuts toasted and cooled
- 2 cloves garlic finely grated or minced
- zest of 1/2 lemon
- 1/8 th teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
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Place all ingredients in a food processor.
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Pulse to combine, allowing the pesto to be a more coarse texture or smoother paste depending on your preference.
