Scratch Made: Pea and Parsley Pesto

With the last our fresh peas sitting in the fridge, I knew I wanted to try something new with them before we ran out.

Our garden isn’t very big, so we typically only have a few batches of each vegetable we grow. Two large batches of peas had come and gone in delicious ways, but our last batch was a bit smaller thanks to a lack of rain around here.

Regardless, I had just enough to make this idea happen.

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And lucky for me, I had plenty of fresh basil and parsley on our deck for my recipe.

Pea and Parsley Pesto

  • 1/2 cup freshly steamed green peas
  • 1/4 cup fresh parsley
  • 1/2 cup fresh basil
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1/4 – 1/2 cup water
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp pepper
  1. Steam peas (on stovetop, in steamer, or in microwave) until bright green and tender.
  2. Add peas (plus cooking water, if you have any) to a blender.
  3. Drop in basil, parsley, garlic, salt, and pepper.
  4. Pulse until mixture is chopped and combined.
  5. Turn blender on an stream in olive oil.
  6. Stream in water until it reaches your desired consistency.

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This may be one of my favorite ways to make “pesto” from now on. It reminded me of a dish my Mammaw used to make that she called green spaghetti.

Of course, I never wanted to try it, and I told her a few times that I didn’t like it even though I had never tasted it.

Turns out, her green spaghetti  was just regular noodles tossed with one of those envelopes of pesto dry mix and oil. Who would have guessed?

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The addition of the steamed peas made this so rich and creamy. It’s definitely a different texture than a normal pesto, but I loved how it completely coated each piece of pasta.

And the mixture of parsley and basil really highlighted the sweet peas, creating a bright and summery sauce.

 

Do you like pesto? What’s your favorite way to use it?

 

17 comments

  1. I love pesto! My favorite is made with arugula and asiago cheese. It’s slightly peppery!

  2. This looks great, though I think I’d have to add some cheese! I’m a cheese-a-holic. :)

  3. I love pesto and I think that a pesto pizza w/ fresh tomatoes is my fave way to enjoy it! I need to try this pea version, it looks like such a delicious idea :)

  4. I love creative pestos! Such a great use for summer bounty finds!
    My favorite has a bit of inspiration from desert country. When I lived in southeastern Utah, I had a couple of pinon trees near my cabin, and I would combine them with pepitas, olive oil, whatever greens I had on hand, a little salt, cayenne and some native sage: the result was a hot, smoky and salty pesto that was great on everything.

  5. sounds lovely! I just made some pesto-pea crostini that i haven’t gotten around to posting yet–great minds ;)

  6. I LOVE pesto!! It’s hardly ever on my blog which is a shame but Panera used to have a pesto turkey sandwich that I used to eat all the time. It was amazing and now as a vegetarian I still miss it!

  7. I love pesto on sandwiches. There’s a stand at the farmers’ market that sells really creative pestos. In fact, I think the name of the company is creative pesto. haha

  8. That sounds great! I love pesto – on pasta, pizza, sandwiches, I’ve even eaten as a veggie dip before.

  9. I like pesto, but I really like some of the ways people are making their own pesto spreads in the blog world even better!

    My favorite way to use pesto is in one of my crockpot soup recipes. The soup has mini meatball, 2 cans of white beans, and 2 cans of crushed tomatoes. After being on low for 6-8 hours you add a whole bag of spinach and like 2 T of pesto and cook it for additional 30 minutes. Viola.. it’s fab!

  10. I can’t wait to try this recipe–you always have such creative ideas! I really, really like pesto, but I am not a fan of oily pestos. I enjoy a thicker paste in wraps, on polenta (it’s delicious!), and mixed with white beans. Thanks for the recipe!

  11. I love TJ’s sundried tomato pesto!

  12. I love pesto.
    My favorite is one with sundried tomatoes and asiago cheese.
    I usually enjoy it on stuffed pasta ( tortellini ) of some kind but keep meaning to try it on fresh bread or a panini

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  16. THANK YOU for making this! I have been looking for a recipe for pesto since I found out I am allergic to nuts! I absolutely love pesto, on pasta, on salads, on sandwiches… I can’t wait to try this!

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