You can’t go wrong with a traditional pesto, but this to me is like pesto’s sweeter lighter cousin and in my opinion you can’t go wrong with it either! It’s more delicate than basil pesto and the mint and peas really compliment each other. Plus, it just feels healthier with all those peas. I’m a fan.
I serve this mint pesto over farfalle (the bowtie pasta), but it would also be great over penne or even as a dip or spread with some crusty bread.
I’m using fresh spearmint from my garden for mine, but you can easily get it from the herb section in the grocery store. If you’re curious about growing your own, it’s not too late to get it started and you can read more about growing your own herbs in my post here!
I love having herbs on hand because not only is it nice just to pop into the backyard for fresh herbs, it also encourages me to cook more yummy food at home because I want to use up my herbs.
I’m definitely going to have to come up with some other ways to use all this spearmint though, because my plant is exploding! So, if you have any good recipes, please share down below!
One of my friends mentioned pairing it with watermelon. Doesn’t that sound like the perfect summer salad? So fresh! Spearmint (and mints in general) are known to be cooling, so they’re perfect for hot summer days.
Anyways, this recipe is super easy and comes together really quickly.
The Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 + 1/2 cups Peas (I use frozen for convenience)
- 1 cup Spearmint (removed from stems)
- 1/4 cup Olive Oil (make sure to use a high quality olive oil because you use so much and don’t cook it so you really taste it!)
- 1/4 cup Pinenuts
- 1/2 cup Parmesan
- Squeeze of half a Lemon
- 1 box of Pasta (I prefer farfalle)
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Bring a pot of water to boil. Once boiling, add peas. Cook just until tender (like a couple minutes). Drain and and let them cool.
- Fill pot back up with water and bring to a boil again. Add pasta once boiling and follow instructions for al dente noodles.
- While pasta cooks. Whip up the pesto. Add the remaining ingredients to the food processor minus the olive oil and blend.
- Once blended stir in the olive oil. If serving as a dip add more olive oil.
- Drain pasta and top with pesto.
- Garnish with mint. Delicious warm and cold.
I hope ya’ll love this mint pesto as much as I do!
Cheers to yummy fresh seasonal food,
