Minted Pea Puree

Last night I made a birthday dinner for my lovely mother. Since the Boston area weather was on it's best behavior this weekend, I decided to make a meal that was full of the vibrant, fresh flavors of spring. I wanted to make an appetizer that was light and could be casually noshed on over drinks. I pulled out a recipe for a Minted Pea Puree that I had clipped out of Glamour magazine months ago but hadn't gotten around to making. The list of ingredients was short and the prep time was minimal. The taste was bright and refreshing, even better than I had expected. I used frozen peas as the recipe called for, but I can only imagine how wonderful this would be with fresh peas once they are in season. This can be served spread onto crostini and topped with a variety of garnishes, including bacon or prosciutto, shaved Parmesan and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. It can also be eaten as a dip with crackers or pita chips and assorted raw vegetables. I decided to serve it as a dip topped with some crumbled feta and a little balsamic vinegar. I also halved the recipe and omitted the parsley. This is definitely something that I will be making again next time I entertain. 

Minted Pea Puree Ingredients: 3 cups frozen green peas, thawed 1 cup fresh mint leaves 1/2 cup parsley 1 cup extra virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon lemon juice Instructions: Put one third to one half of the peas into a food processor with the mint, parsley, lemon juice and olive oil. Puree to a paste. Scrape the paste into a bowl and combine with the remaining whole peas and season with salt and pepper to taste. Spread onto toasted bread slices and garnish with shaved Parmesan, bacon and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. Or serve in a bowl with veggies and crackers for dipping. Makes enough puree for about 30 crostini.

Recipe Courtesy of Glamour Magazine, September 2008

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Comments

[Mike Profit]

Zoe, your blog was recomended to me by Kate Beaton. I too am a total foodie! This pea puree is one of my favorites on a summer day and I serve it with halibut or rockfish which goes really well. I tried it with fresh peas, but I prefer the frozen pea version! Maybe if you know the fresh peas are really fresh it would make a difference. The ones I bought may have been sitting around too long...
Keep up the writing!
Cheers
Mike

[Zoe]

Thanks Mike! Sounds delish with halibut, I am definitely going to try that! Thanks for reading and commenting. I love fellow foodie feedback.