Pasta Pesto and Peas - Grateful Prayer

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.

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.

You can use purchased pesto but homemade is much better and quick and easy to make. Use basil from your herb garden or from the grocery store. Click Basil Pesto for the recipe.

Easy fresh basil pesto recipe. Just basil leaves, olive oil, pine nuts, Parmesan, salt & pepper. Serve on pasta, panini and grilled veggies.

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.

How to make Pasta, Pesto, and Peas

Begin by grating the fresh Parmesan and squeezing the lemons.

Cooking the pasta

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 and drain.

Add the pasta to a bowl add drizzle with the olive oil.

Allow to cool to room temperature.

You will need to squeeze out the moisture in the spinach. Do this by pressing with a spoon against the side of a strainer.

In a bowl, combine the spinach, pesto, mayonnaise, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Stir the mixture 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.

Easy recipe for making Pasta Pesto and Peas

Add the Parmesan, peas and pignolis (pine nuts). Toss and adjust seasonings.

Garnish with sliced tomatoes , if desired and serve at room temperature.

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Pasta, Pesto, and Peas

slightly adapted from: Ina Garten Food Network

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 homemade (recipe link)
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

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

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.

Easy Homemade Basil Pesto Easy recipe for homemade fresh basil pesto

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[…] 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 […]

How to make Pasta, Pesto, and Peas

Cooking the pasta

Pasta, Pesto, and Peas

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