Green Pea Pesto

Recipe Rating:	1 Rating5
Categories:	Pasta, Other Sauces, Quick & Easy, Vegetarian, Healthy, Spreads
Keyword:	pesto
Serves:	6-8
Prep Time:	15 Min
Cook Time:	10 Min

Ingredients

1 1/2 c	thawed, frozen green peas
1/2-3/4 c	olive oil
2-3 clove	garlic
1 c	parmesan cheese (freshly grated)
3/4 c	pecans ( lightly toasted in a dry fry pan)
1 Tbsp	lemon juice
	salt and pepper to taste
1 lb	pasta of choice (spaghetti, linguine, fettucine)

Pinched by opstrate, and 12 more.

Stacey Lawson

Full Flavored

New Orleans, LA (pop. 343,829)

slawson

Member Since Jan 2010

Stacey's Notes:

I love pasta and always looking for new ways to enjoy pasta. I love green peas and as a child my mom always served green peas with meatballs and spaghetti, so I figured they'd make a great alternative to tomato sauce. Also a great vegetarian dish. It also a great way to get your kids to eat some greens in a different way.

Directions

Into a food processor add thawed green peas, about three tablespoons of olive oil and blend

Add toasted pecans, garlic cloves, three or four more tablespoons of olive oil, and half the cheese. Pulse processor until blended.

Add lemon juice, few more tablespoons of olive oil, salt, pepper and rest of the cheese. Pulse processor until it is blended.

At this point you should taste your pesto for flavor of garlic, salt, pepper. Add more of this if you prefer more. Also decide now if you want to add more oil. Your pesto should be thick.

Cook your pasta according to package directions. Once cooked to your liking transfer pasta to a large mixing bowl, saving your pasta water.

Add about a 1/4 cup of pesto and a serving spoon of pasta water to cooked pasta and mix. Add more pesto and pasta water until you have the amount to your liking on your pasta. Save the rest of your pesto for another time or spread it on toasted bread for a delicious snack.

VARIATIONS;
You can thawed frozen spinach in place of peas. Also any type of nuts such as walnuts, pine nuts instead of pecans.
Another green you can use is baby arugula. It has a great peppery taste to it.