This pea pesto recipe is a wonderful way to celebrate the arrival of spring – and very easy to make.
Table of contents
PEA PESTO
Pea pesto is a fresh and vibrant twist on the classic basil pesto. It’s made with fresh or frozen peas, garlic, Parmesan or ricotta cheese, olive oil, and pine nuts. The result is an incredibly flavourful and refreshing pesto that’s perfect for tossing with pasta, spreading on sandwiches or using as a dip. Pea pesto is just as versatile as the original, but provides a unique sweetness and vibrant color that makes it a great way to shake up any dish. The peas give the pesto a lovely sweet flavor and its vibrant green color will really bring your dishes to life. Pea pesto is full of nutrients and is a fantastic way to get your greens. Enjoy it as a topping on your favorite dishes or as a veggie dip with some crunchy veggies. It’s a great way to celebrate spring.
INGREDIENTS
Our pea pesto was made with frozen petite peas – no need to defrost or cook them. The frozen peas were just as good as fresh peas, but a whole lot quicker to prepare.
The garlic olive oil is homemade. We make it in the Instant Pot during our weekend meal prep (see the details below). It’s very handy to have on hand.
The crostini was made by toasting slices of a homemade baguette. The homemade baguette is another item that we make during the weekend meal prep (see the details below). It might sound like a lot of work, but it really only takes minutes.
Drizzle with olive oil and top with pea tendrils and pea flowers. The mint, tendrils, and pea flowers were from our garden. We have mostly herbs growing in the garden, but plant peas for the flowers and tendrils, since they are both edible. The pea flowers and tendrils are one of the first edible flowers to appear in the garden. Both the tendrils and the flowers from edible pea plants like snap peas or snow peas are edible. Do not use any part of ornamental peas, because some sweet peas are poisonous.
Pea flower for pea pesto
HOW THIS PEA PESTO RECIPE FITS IN WITH OUR PLAN TO EAT BETTER
Eating more plant based foods is a delicious and healthy way to eat and is also more sustainable.
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Equipment
- 1 food processor
CHOOSING BRANDS:
For certain products, the choice of brand will make a big difference in the outcome of the recipe and in your carbon footprint. So, for those products, we have listed the brand. We are not paid to mention a brand and have no affiliates.
Ingredients
- 1 pound frozen petite green peas raw, still frozen
- ½ cup whole milk ricotta cheese
- 6 Tablespoons garlic olive oil homemade
- 2-3 leaves mint torn up
- 1 Tablespoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Put all the ingredients into the food processor and blend until they are a slightly chunky paste.
- Serve on crostini or with crackers.
Nutrition
WHY THIS RECIPE IS SUSTAINABLE:
Check out the chart on the blog post to see how food choices affect climate change. This recipe uses responsible brands and items that are lower on the chart and the production creates less greenhouse gas.
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Photos by Tony Fitzgerald Photography