Every Sunday our family tries to attend a sacred outdoor church. Yes we try as much as possible to get out of the city and into the cathedral of the red wood trees, for our church is the most beautiful, the oldest and most sacred of all the churches we could find anywhere.
Once out of the city, we hike as far as the kids can go, and then sit in the cool shade for drinks, chatter and quiet reflection. After an hour or two we head back into the city stopping at the market on the way home to pickup special things for our Sunday supper.
Sunday suppers are my favorite meal of the week, mostly because there is no rush, we have all settled into the week-end and are ready for a quiet evening in because tomorrow it is back to school and work for us all. I like to take the afternoon to decide on the meal and then we all get excited as I work in the kitchen preparing it, as it is usually either something none of us have had before and are excited to try, or an old favorite that we all know and love.
This Sunday I found a big beautiful bag of sweet peas from the farmers market, and so armed with these, and a recipe from my favorite cooking site Smitten Kitchen for Sweet pea pesto, I was set to make a fresh pasta for our Sunday supper. I could not wait to share this recipe with you because it is simple to make and crazy good!
The pesto was easy to make and the color stunning!
Sunday suppers are my favorite meal of the week, mostly because there is no rush, we have all settled into the week-end and are ready for a quiet evening in because tomorrow it is back to school and work for us all. I like to take the afternoon to decide on the meal and then we all get excited as I work in the kitchen preparing it, as it is usually either something none of us have had before and are excited to try, or an old favorite that we all know and love.
This Sunday I found a big beautiful bag of sweet peas from the farmers market, and so armed with these, and a recipe from my favorite cooking site Smitten Kitchen for Sweet pea pesto, I was set to make a fresh pasta for our Sunday supper. I could not wait to share this recipe with you because it is simple to make and crazy good!
The pesto was easy to make and the color stunning!
The end result a smooth and creamy pesto that you add to any of your favourite pasta, I used some fresh linguini I picked up but any type would have worked here…..
The recipe I used{and tweaked} from Smitten Kitchen.
1 1/2 cups fresh peas or a 10-ounce package frozen peas, defrosted
1 small garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
1/2 cup grated or dried Parmesan cheese
1 small tomato diced
1/4 teaspoon table salt, plus more for pasta water
1/3 cup olive oil
12 ounces dried linguine or 1 package of fresh
Basil or mint leaves 2-3 leaves of either.
The trick when cooking fresh peas is all in the “not overcooking them” so although it is a real pain, plan to have a ice bath or some super cold water running for them when they come out of the boiling water AND only cook them for 2 min’s.
Once your peas are cooked put 1/2 cup aside and then get the rest of them into your food processor along with the cheese, pine nuts olive oil and if you wish either fresh basil or mint. I used the basil this time, but I bet the mint would also be pretty good. Whiz it all together and while your pasta cooks.
Make sure that you save 1-2 cups of your pasta water to mix back into it as the pesto is really thick and the pasta water makes for a creamy sauce.
Once you have mixed half of the pesto into the pasta along with your pasta water you can decide if you want more pesto or not, I only ended up using half of mine and freezing the rest, it really is personal taste.
Add more Parmesan to the top along with the diced tomatoes and enjoy!
1 1/2 cups fresh peas or a 10-ounce package frozen peas, defrosted
1 small garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
1/2 cup grated or dried Parmesan cheese
1 small tomato diced
1/4 teaspoon table salt, plus more for pasta water
1/3 cup olive oil
12 ounces dried linguine or 1 package of fresh
Basil or mint leaves 2-3 leaves of either.
The trick when cooking fresh peas is all in the “not overcooking them” so although it is a real pain, plan to have a ice bath or some super cold water running for them when they come out of the boiling water AND only cook them for 2 min’s.
Once your peas are cooked put 1/2 cup aside and then get the rest of them into your food processor along with the cheese, pine nuts olive oil and if you wish either fresh basil or mint. I used the basil this time, but I bet the mint would also be pretty good. Whiz it all together and while your pasta cooks.
Make sure that you save 1-2 cups of your pasta water to mix back into it as the pesto is really thick and the pasta water makes for a creamy sauce.
Once you have mixed half of the pesto into the pasta along with your pasta water you can decide if you want more pesto or not, I only ended up using half of mine and freezing the rest, it really is personal taste.
Add more Parmesan to the top along with the diced tomatoes and enjoy!
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