Pesto & Pea Pasta aka Presto Pasta!

This fast and delicious pasta recipe is really easy. The secret is to gently fry the peas in olive oil. Sounds crazy, but it makes the peas sweet, tender and super delicious.

This recipe takes just 15 minutes to cook!  It serves four people. This could be your ‘special dish’ – the recipe you cook for family and friends and everyone thinks you are a cooking genius.

Equipment

A large pan to cook the pasta in

A colander to drain the past

A frying pan

A wooden spatula or spoon

Ingredients

350 grams of spaghetti (use fusilli or penne if you prefer)

3 tablespoons of olive oil

250 gram of mushrooms (put more in if you really like mushrooms)

2 big handfuls of frozen peas

A jar of green pesto (these are usually about 300 grams – I like sacla)

Black pepper

How to make your Pesto & Pea Pasta

1. Chop the mushrooms into slices. The slices should be about half a centimetre thick.  (Don’t worry too much about this – mushrooms taste nice thick,  thin or chunky!)

Cook the pasta

2. While the pasta is cooking, heat two tablespoons of olive oil in the frying pan. Use a medium heat. Add the mushrooms and cook in the oil until they start to turn brown. This will take about five minutes.

3. When the mushrooms are cooked, add the frozen peas. You may wish to add a little more olive oil if the pan looks a bit dry. The peas are cooked when they turn darker green and are soft and tender. Try one to taste – they should be soft and slippery and really sweet. It will take about another three minutes. (Don’t forget about your pasta! As soon as it is cooked, drain it, add a little olive oil and black pepper.)

4. Add the jar of pesto to the pan and stir in with the mushrooms and peas.

5. Finally add the pasta to the sauce. If your frying pan is big enough, add the pasta to the frying pan and carefully stir it into the sauce. Or if you prefer, pour the sauce into the pan of pasta and stir through.

6. Take the pan to the table and let everyone help themselves. Molto delizioso!   (Very delicious!)

Make the recipe your own

If you don’t like mushrooms, leave them out. The peas are the star ingredients here.

Add olives when you add the peas.

Add slices of bacon when you are cooking the mushrooms. (We really like turkey bacon as it cooks really quickly and has no fatty bits).

Or add slices of courgettes to cook at the same time as the mushrooms.

If you like a really creamy sauce, add two tablespoons of greek yoghurt at the same time as you add the pesto to the pan.

Let us know how you get on – especially if you try any new ingredients!

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