This recipe was born of a craving for pesto whilst I was temporarily unable to eat cow’s dairy (we suspected it might be the cause of baby Milo’s upset tummy, although I’m not completely convinced we were right) so my usual pesto Genovese was off limits. I’m aware of how wildly un-seasonal it is to be making pea anything in November when everyone else is making pumpkin pies and thinking about Christmas, but since I’m currently dealing with what is, as far as I can tell, a completely nocturnal newborn, I’m a little behind on my food shopping, and the trusty bag of frozen peas is starring in a lot of our meals currently!
[recipe title=”Pea, Goat’s Cheese & Almond Pesto” servings=”4″ time=”20mins” difficulty=”easy”] [recipe-ingredients]- 85g frozen petit pois
- 20g fresh basil leaves (stalks removed)
- 60g hard goat’s cheese
- 20g whole, skin-on almonds
- 2 small cloves garlic
- 70ml light olive oil (or an equal mix of extra virgin olive oil and vegetable oil)
- Squeeze lemon juice
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- Bring a pan of water to the boil, add the frozen peas, return it to the boil, then drain them and allow them to cool.
- In a food processor combine the peas with the basil leaves, goat’s cheese, almonds and garlic. Blitz to a coarse paste, adding the oil gradually through the opening in the top. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and blitz again, to ensure it’s all an even consistency. Season to taste with salt, black pepper and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.
- Cook your pasta of choice, then drain and stir the pesto through it, topping it with extra grated cheese. (I added extra petit pois to serve)
