Hard to beat for an easy pea-sy midweek meal. It’s so fresh and springy, but you can absolutely use frozen veggies to keep things even simpler. This is sure to make it into your regular rotation.

Ingredients

Makes 4 portions
360g dried pasta
1 clove garlic
2 tbsp toasted pistachios
100ml good olive oil
150g podded peas (fresh or frozen)
100g podded broad beans (fresh or frozen)
15g mint leaves, washed
1 lemon
2 tbsp grated pecorino, plus more to garnish
salt and pepper

Looking for substitutions?

• Swap the pistachio for preferred nut or seed – pine nuts or almonds work great
• Switch the mint for basil or parsley
• Use parmesan in place of the pecorino
• I’ve used casarecce pasta which holds onto the pesto very well – but any pasta shape will work here

Recipe

1. Bring 2 large pans of salted water to a rolling boil
2. Cook the pasta to al dente, then drain, reserving a cup of the pasta water
3. Cook the peas and broad beans until tender (frozen will cook faster than fresh) and drain
4. Put aside 2 tbsp of the cooked peas and broad beans – optionally pop these broad beans from their pods. Place the rest in a food processor with the mint, garlic, pecorino, olive oil and pistachios. Blend until you reach a smoothish pesto consistency
5. Off the heat mix together the pasta, pesto and the whole peas and broad beans. Season to taste and add lemon juice to taste. Stir in pasta water until you reach a creamy consistency
6. Spoon into bowls and top with more pecorino, if you like

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