JOANNA'S FOOD: family cooking, from scratch, every day


Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Another pea puree


















Yesterday was a day from culinary hell. At breakfast, 14 oarsmen said they would like supper. In the end, only eight of them turned up for the two sittings (some of them had pretty solid excuses, but one or two of them were old enough to have known better). There were also three extra family members at the last minute for one sitting, and later, much much later, I realised that the father of one of the Americans hadn't eaten, so I gave him some of the huge pile of leftovers.

Luckily it was stew, so that went into the freezer. The specially-cooked vegetarian number looked pretty filthy this morning on its dried-out plate. And then there were the peas.

I hate waste. I hate throwing food away. So the panful of peas sitting on the worktop (no room in the fridge) reproached me this morning. Then I remembered the lovely green pea paste we ate at Matilda's christening. Here's my latest version - almost a pesto, utterly delicious in its sweetness (I've been eating it for breakfast, and, if I'm not careful, I won't be able to stop!).

Another pea puree

440g cooked peas
a handful of basil leaves
a lump of parmesan, cut into chunky slices (if you have a Magimix, there really is no need to grate the cheese first - this is a really useful thing for cooks-in-a-hurry to know)
2 tablespoons pine nuts
2 tablespoons 0% Greek yoghurt
4 tablespoons olive oil
one fat clove of garlic, peeled and sliced

Whizz this in the Magimix until it's smoothish, and has stopped making that noise that tells you there are still a few big lumps in there.

Serve on toast or crostini.

Usually in this house the leftover peas get put into a green salad, where they are a very popular addition. Maybe not any more ...

11 comments:

Celia Hart said...

Mmmm that looks good! A green pea humous - I'll have to try that one.

Celia

Susie said...

Funnily enough, Joanna, I was thinking of the Christening pea crostinis yesterday when I was feeding Matilda pea and pear puree (which she adores!).

Your version sounds delicious. Have you ever tried it with roasted garlic? This is what I did for the Christening - a whole head of garlic per 200g of peas. Very easy - you just lop the top off and wrap it in foil loosely with a bit of olive oil. The garlic turns to puree and can just be squeezed out. This also makes the most fantastic pea and garlic soup when stock is added.

I love your blog and read it daily at the moment!

Susie x

Anonymous said...

I'd never have thought of doing that with peas - hangs head in shame and shuffles off...

Joanna said...

Susie, those pea crostinis were delicious, and I have been meaning to ask you for the recipe. No wonder, all that lovely sweet roasted garlic squeezed like toothpaste out of the casing. I'm hoping there'll be some more leftover peas tomorrow morning, as I've got a head of new garlic, and there are hungry people coming and going at all hours here at the moment.

Magic cochin - they're ass delicious, I should try both! (We sometimes end up doing a blind tasting, to see which one is really the most popular ... they're not just for wine buffs!)

Katie Zeller said...

On pasta I think....cold, for a salad, with a bit of truffle oil...Ooooh, yes! Thanks for the inspiration! Gotta run, the peas are calling...

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

Joanna, We had minty smashed peas in a pub our first day in London and all of us enjoyed. This looks excellent also. I must try.
I shouldn't thank you but now I've added new bloggs to my rss. All I do is read.

Joanna said...

Tanna, I'm SO sorry - except that they're all worth reading (but I know EXACTLY what you mean). And you reallly need to try Suzie's version of pea puree, because it's great too.

Cottage Smallholder said...

This would be very good in open sandwiches with prawns and a squeeze of lemon.

Thanks in advance. We usually give left over peas to the dogs. Now they will be whisked away.

Jacqueline Meldrum said...

Your pea puree, is pretty much the same as my Petit Pois Pesto, execpt I added 1 tbsp light philadelphia cream cheese and I used cashew nuts! They looked very similar. Yummy huh?

Joanna said...

Hi Holler - I'll have to try it with cashew nuts, unsalted, presumably? Somehow I never have them in the house, whereas there are always pinenuts.

CS - yes, my dogs sometimes get the very last one or two peas too!

Karen Baking Soda said...

Wow, it must have been green pea day.. I tried to remake the minty mushy peas we had for lunch in London, and even tried it as a filling in bread...
Will try your version as well, sounds great!