The Botanical Kitchen

Recipes, travel and the occasional rant

Peas, Peas, Peas Please!

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I’ve been living in a work bubble over the last few weeks but today is a rare day off and I’ve been enjoying some cooking time alone in my kitchen.  No children’s chitter chatter. No husband playing loud music. Just me and my pots and pans. Blissful.

I have just made myself an enormous bowl of pasta. I don’t get a chance to make pasta for the family anymore. My girls both have school dinners and pasta features a couple of times a week.  So today I took my time with the chopping and the making as well as the eating. Inspired by my garden at the moment, I wanted something green and luscious. But also something virtuous as I’m in training for my next half marathon in September.

This is what I settled on.

Peas. I love peas. They’re a staple in our freezer.  It’s a good job too as we’ve got nowhere with growing them on the allotment! Thankfully British farmers have more luck than me. Did you know that it’s currently harvest time? A 24 hour operation to harvest two billion portions to feed the nation.  That’s a lot of peas!

Avocados. Another staple for us. On toast usually as a quick breakfast with a poached or scrambled egg but today I decided to use it as my pasta ‘pesto’. It was great! Creamy without the need for any cream or cheese.  I used yoghurt and toasted pumpkin seeds instead.

Courgettes. I bought the seeds but have not gotten around to planting them on the allotment. Rather annoyed with myself as we’ve always had a crop. I had one left in our veg bag this week so it got chopped up too.

Linguine. I don’t like spaghetti. Pasta shapes are a little too close to children’s food. Tagliatelle is a touch too fat and so my bought pasta of choice is linguine. It’s substantial enough to hold it’s own with a sauce but not stodgy enough to induce a carb coma.

Here’s what I made.  Have a go. It’s a quick but nutritious meal. My recipe feeds two normal people or one greedy person who is carb loading.

Linguine with Avocado Pesto, Courgette and Peas Copyright Urvashi Roe 2016

Smooth, creamy, healthy – Linguine with Avocado and Pumpkin Seed ‘Pesto’, Courgettes and Peas

Print Recipe

Linguine with Avocado 'Pesto', Peas and Courgettes

Notes

  • 1 avocado. I used a Hass avocado
  • 2 tbsp of plain yoghurt or Skyr
  • 2 tbsp pumpkin seeds plus another 2 tbsp for sprinkling
  • 100g-ish of linguine - here's my new way of measuring it out
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed
  • 100g frozen peas
  • 1 small courgette, cubed
  • salt and pepper to season
Cook the linguine according to the manufacturer's instructions and set aside to cool a little. You can toss it through with some olive oil to prevent it sticking but I tend to just run it under some hot water before using.
Blitz the avocado, yoghurt and pumpkin seeds in a blender or food processor. I use my Froothie or Magimix. This is your 'pesto'. Dollop this onto your cooked linguine and toss together until all the pasta is nicely coated. Use as much or little as you wish. The extra can be used as a dip for snacking.
Heat the olive oil in a small wok and add the garlic, courgettes and frozen peas. Don't worry about defrosting them. They'll naturally do so as the courgettes soften. When the courgettes are just soft, they're ready to pour over your linguine.
Finally sprinkle over the leftover pumpkin seeds, season and enjoy. In the garden admiring your wonderful sweet peas and catching up with the weekend papers.

More ideas with peas…

I’m also linking this to Thinly Spread and Tinned Tomatoes for their #PastaPlease roundup