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Pasta Pesto and Peas Green Food for St Patrick’s Day

By Lorraine

Pasta Pesto and Peas is full of summer flavors with garden-fresh ingredients like basil, garlic, sweet peas, and spinach. Great for patio parties, potluck dinners, a hearty lunch or dinner meal.
You may be thinking Pasta Pesto and Peas sounds Italian. And you’d be right. Pesto is a sauce originating in Genoa, the capital city of Liguria, Italy. The ancient Romans used to eat a similar paste called moretum, which was made by crushing garlic, salt, cheese, herbs, olive oil and vinegar together.

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March 17th is a day everyone can be Irish, so they say. Since my mom’s birthday was on St Patrick’s Day and because we have a wee bit of Irish in our ancestry it was a big deal growing up. Having traditional food to celebrate the day is nice but this year, I want something a little different.

Pasta Pesto and Peas is full of summer flavors with garden-fresh ingredients like basil, garlic, sweet peas, and spinach. Great for patio parties, potluck dinners, a hearty lunch or dinner meal.
And since Pasta Pesto and Peas has green ingredients, I think it qualifies to be served on St. Patrick’s Day. If you’re not sure of my reasoning, you will still like the dish. It’s got lots of good-for-you ingredients like spinach, basil, pasta, nuts and of course, peas.
 
If you prefer to keep the green theme going, you could garnish with green tomatoes. But since I live in the north and it isn’t the end of summer, I don’t have green tomatoes.
Pasta Pesto and Peas is full of summer flavors with garden-fresh ingredients like basil, garlic, sweet peas, and spinach. Great for patio parties, potluck dinners, a hearty lunch or dinner meal.
To make this dish even easier, I did not make the pesto but used a purchased one. If you have fresh basil available you can follow Ina’s recipe below or another recipe I shared (shown below) by clicking Basil Pesto.
Pasta Pesto and Peas is full of summer flavors with garden-fresh ingredients like basil, garlic, sweet peas, and spinach. Great for patio parties, potluck dinners, a hearty lunch or dinner meal.
And, if you are like me and manage to drop some on yourself while eating, you’ve got the Wearing-of-the-green part covered too.
 
This recipe makes 12 servings so I made just half the recipe using only bow tie pasta. Use whatever you like.

Pasta, Pesto, and Peas

Pasta Pesto and Peas is full of summer flavors with garden-fresh ingredients like basil, garlic, sweet peas, and spinach. Great for patio parties, potluck dinners, a hearty lunch or dinner meal.
Begin by grating the fresh Parmesan and squeezing the lemons.
Pasta Pesto and Peas is full of summer flavors with garden-fresh ingredients like basil, garlic, sweet peas, and spinach. Great for patio parties, potluck dinners, a hearty lunch or dinner meal.
Cook the fusilli and bow ties separately in a large pot of boiling salted water for 10 to 12 minutes until each pasta is al dente. Drain and toss into a bowl with the olive oil. Cool to room temperature.
Pasta Pesto and Peas is full of summer flavors with garden-fresh ingredients like basil, garlic, sweet peas, and spinach. Great for patio parties, potluck dinners, a hearty lunch or dinner meal.
Squeeze out the moisture in the spinach by pressing with a spoon against the side or a strainer. In a bowl, combine the spinach, pesto, mayonnaise, lemon juice, salt and pepper; stir until smooth. This can also be done in a food processor fitted with a steel blade to puree the ingredients. Add the pesto mixture to the cooled pasta.
Pasta Pesto and Peas is full of summer flavors with garden-fresh ingredients like basil, garlic, sweet peas, and spinach. Great for patio parties, potluck dinners, a hearty lunch or dinner meal.
Add the Parmesan, peas and pignolis (pine nuts). Toss and adjust seasonings. Serve at room temperature.
Pasta Pesto and Peas is full of summer flavors with garden-fresh ingredients like basil, garlic, sweet peas, and spinach. Great for patio parties, potluck dinners, a hearty lunch or dinner meal.
Pesto:
Place the walnuts, pignolis, and garlic in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process for 15 seconds. Add the basil leaves, salt, and pepper. With the processor running, slowly pour the olive oil into the bowl through the feed tube and process until the pesto is thoroughly pureed. Add the Parmesan and puree for a minute. Use right away or store the pesto in the refrigerator or freezer with a thin film of olive oil on top.
 
Notes: Air is the enemy of pesto. For freezing, pack it in containers with a film of oil or plastic wrap directly on top with the air pressed out.
 
To clean basil, remove the leaves, swirl them in a bowl of water, and then spin them very dry in a salad spinner. Store them in a closed plastic bag with a slightly damp paper towel. As long as the leaves are dry they will stay green for several days.

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 Pasta Pesto and Peas is full of summer flavors with garden-fresh ingredients like basil, garlic, sweet peas, and spinach. Great for patio parties, potluck dinners, a hearty lunch or dinner meal.

Pasta, Pesto, and Peas

slightly adapted from: Ina Garten Food Network

PRINT RECIPE
INGREDIENTS:

  • 3/4 pound fusilli pasta
  • 3/4 pound bow tie pasta
  • 1/4 cup good olive oil
  • 1 1/2 cups pesto, packaged or see recipe below
  • 1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry
  • 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 1/4 cups good mayonnaise
  • 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
  • 1 1/2 cups frozen peas, defrosted
  • 1/3 cup pignolis (pine nuts)
  • 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Pesto:

  • 1/4 cup walnuts
  • 1/4 cup pignolis (pine nuts)
  • 3 tablespoons chopped garlic (9 cloves)
  • 5 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 1/2 cups good olive oil
  • 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan

DIRECTIONS:

Cook the fusilli and bow ties separately in a large pot of boiling salted water for 10 to 12 minutes until each pasta is al dente. Drain and toss into a bowl with the olive oil. Cool to room temperature.

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, puree the pesto, spinach, and lemon juice. Add the mayonnaise and puree. Add the pesto mixture to the cooled pasta and then add the Parmesan, peas, pignolis, salt, and pepper. Mix well, season to taste, and serve at room temperature.

Pesto:

Place the walnuts, pignolis, and garlic in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process for 15 seconds. Add the basil leaves, salt, and pepper. With the processor running, slowly pour the olive oil into the bowl through the feed tube and process until the pesto is thoroughly pureed. Add the Parmesan and puree for a minute. Use right away or store the pesto in the refrigerator or freezer with a thin film of olive oil on top.

Notes: Air is the enemy of pesto. For freezing, pack it in containers with a film of oil or plastic wrap directly on top with the air pressed out.

To clean basil, remove the leaves, swirl them in a bowl of water, and then spin them very dry in a salad spinner. Store them in a closed plastic bag with a slightly damp paper towel. As long as the leaves are dry they will stay green for several days.

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  1. […] Rachel’s 30-Minute Shepherd’s Pie PRINT RECIPE Ingredients   2 pounds potatoes, such as russet, peeled and cubed 2 tablespoons sour cream or softened cream cheese 1 large egg yolk 1/2 cup cream or milk Salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 3/4 pounds ground beef or ground lamb 1 carrot, peeled and chopped (I used 2) 1 onion, chopped 2 tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1 cup beef stock or broth 2 teaspoons Worcestershire 1/2 cup frozen peas sweet paprika to sprinkle on top 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves     Directions   Boil potatoes in salted water until tender, about 12 minutes. Drain potatoes and pour them into a bowl. Combine sour cream, egg yolk and cream. Add the cream mixture into potatoes and mash until potatoes are smooth.   While potatoes boil, preheat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add oil to hot pan with beef or lamb. Season meat with salt and pepper. Brown and crumble meat for 3 or 4 minutes. Drain fat; add chopped carrot and onion and cook veggies with meat 5 minutes, stirring frequently.   In a second small skillet over medium heat cook butter and flour together 2 minutes. Whisk in broth and Worcestershire sauce; cook 1-2 minutes. Add gravy to meat and vegetables; stir in peas.   Preheat broiler to high. Fill a small rectangular casserole with meat and vegetable mixture. Spoon potatoes over meat evenly. Sprinkle with paprika and broil 6 to 8 inches from the heat until potatoes are evenly browned. Top casserole dish with chopped parsley and serve.   Joining Blogging friend Kathleen @ Cuisine Kathleen for her 8th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Blog Crawl. It’s lots of fun to see her tablescapes and yummy recipes. Share your St. Patrick’s Day post or take a peek at the many Irish ideas that other share! you might also like… Pasta Pesto and Peas […]

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