Spring is here! One of our longtime partners, Pastificio Boulder, recently shared a beautiful pasta dish with pea shoot pesto. Pea shoots are just the top portion of the pea plant. They are tender, delicious, taste like peas, and are a great salad topping or garnish atop a buttery, creamy pasta dish. 

Ingredients:

1lb Dry Heirloom Wheat Casarecce (Try Pastificio)

4 Cups Pea Shoots (3 for pesto, 1 for garnish)

1/4 Cup of Cashews (or your favorite nut – almonds, walnuts, pignoli, etc)

2 Garlic Cloves

1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/4 Cup of Pecorino Romano

Juice and Zest of 1 Lemon

1 Cup of Frozen Peas

Salt & Black Pepper

Directions:

  1. Bring 4 quarts of water and plenty of salt to a boil.
  2. In the container of the food processor, add garlic, lemon juice, 3 cups of pea shoots. Pulse till combined. Add cashews, pulse till nuts have a coarse texture. While running the processor, drizzle olive oil till emulsified. If too thick, add a bit more of olive oil.
  3. Place mixture in a large bowl, combine cheese and lemon zest. Add pepper. Taste and adjust salt – keep in mind pecorino is salty and it will be sprinkled on top of the final dish. Spread the pesto mixture on all interior sides of bowl.
  4. Lightly sautee the remaining pea shoots and defrosted peas in olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
  5. Cook pasta as per pasta box instructions.
  6. Once pasta is al dente, transfer it to the bowl, add a bit of pasta water and gently combine pesto and pasta, using a rubber spatula and swirling the bowl around (this is my favorite way to combine pesto + pasta).
  7. Plate and top with sauteed peas and pea shoots. Sprinkle with freshly grated pecorino romano cheese and a bit more lemon zest. *for a vegan version, simply omit cheese and double the amount of nuts.
  8. Buon appetito!