This Easy Pea Pesto with Spirali Pasta makes a lovely fresh weekday lunch or dinner when you don't want to spend too much time in the kitchen. The Pea Pesto is very quick and easy to prepare and made from scratch!

Pea pesto is a lovely twist on the tradtional pesto made with basil which is not to everyone's taste. It is mild and flavourful and is a great way to add extra vegetables to a dish.

This is another quick and easy dish the whole family can enjoy together.

What ingredients do I need for pea pesto?

• Peas - High fibre and protein-rich (think pea protein powder)
• Ground almonds, rather than whole, for a faster, smoother finish. Almonds are also protein-rich too and have many health benefits.
• Parmesan cheese
• Garlic
• Olive oil
• Lemon juice
• Sea salt
• Black Pepper

This pesto sauce is also a perfect for topping pasta, fish, spread on toast and crackers or a dip with some raw vegetables.

Ready in just five minutes in your food processor!

How to make pea pesto pasta

This whole dish literally takes less than 30 minutes to prepare and get on the table ready to eat!

•  Start by putting a large pan of salted water to boil for the pasta. Once at a rolling boil, add your pasta shapes and leave to cook for around 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• The next stage is super easy! Just put all the ingredients for your pesto sauce into a blender and blend for around 1-2 minutes.

• Scrape down the sides of the blender then blend again for another 1-2 minutes. Your sauce should be of a medium consistency.

• Add some of the cooking water from the pasta to thin down the pea pesto if necessary rather than adding more olive oil as this will result in an overly oily sauce. The pasta water will also make the pesto sauce beautifully silky smooth.
• Add your peas to the pasta pan in the last couple of minutes of cooking time which will be enough to soften them and saving using another pan.
• Drain the Spirali pasta shapes and peas and place in a large bowl.
• Add the prepared pea pesto and stir in until fully combined. This will ensure that all the pasta pieces get coated well in the delicious sauce.

What is the best pesto for pasta?

There are no rules here, if you have a favourite pasta, please use it. But there are pasta shapes that lend themselves better to some sauces.

For this easy pea pesto pasta recipe we are using spirali pasta, also known as cavatappi (which is the Italian word for corkscrew). It's a tube like pasta that is shaped into spirals that allows it to cling onto the silky pesto in all its twists and turns.

Fusilli is also a good choice as it also has a spiral-like shape. Ridged Penne pasta rather than smooth is another good alternative.

Can the pesto be made in advance?

Pesto can be prepared and kept in the fridge for 2-3 days or make a larger batch and place in a sterilised jar, then refrigerate. Place a thin puddle of olive oil in the jar on top of the pesto to keep it fresher.

Can you freeze pea pesto pasta?

Pea Pesto will freeze really well, which is great as this recipe makes a good amount. Cooked pasta also freezes well. As this dish is pre-mixed just place in a suitable freezer container and freeze for up to 3 months.

To consume, take out of the freezer and allow to defrost before reheating using one of the methods below.

How to reheat pesto pasta?

Our preferred method to reheat pesto pasta is to use the microwave but the oven is also a good, albeit slower method.

If microwaving, place the pesto pasta into a suitable microwaveable/heat resistant bowl. Drizzle with a little water to moisten the pasta and loosen it up. Microwave for 1 minute on medium, stir the pasta and microwave on high for another 1-2 minutes, stirring at regular intervals.

If using your oven, place in a heat resistant dish, drizzle either a little olive oil or water onto the pesto pasta and cover with foil, this will keep the pesto moist, the pasta soft and not dried out. 15 minutes in a medium oven is enough to warm it through.

Remember, pea pesto is supposed to be warmed up by the hot pasta and not cooked as such. If overheated when reheating, the pesto can become bland with all those delicious flavours being lost.

Variations

• Add chopped vegetables to the sauce, broccoli and asparagus are great choices.
• For extra colour and a great pairing, add chopped sun-dried tomatoes to the hot pasta after mixing in the pea pesto and stir until combined.

Nutritional info links:

Peas
Almonds

More delicious recipes:

• Courgetti (Zucchini) Walnut Watercress Pesto
• Easy Sweet Potato and Chickpea Curry (Vegan)
• Cheesy Mushroom and Leek Potato Pie

Easy Pea Pesto with Spirali Pasta

This Easy Pea Pesto with Spirali Pasta makes a lovely fresh weekday lunch or dinner when you don't want to spend too much time in the kitchen.

5 from 1 vote

Author: ND

Servings 2

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PREP 15 minutes mins

COOK 10 minutes mins

TOTAL 25 minutes mins

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

• ▢ 2 cups Spirali Pasta, see notes below

For the Pea Pesto

• ▢ 150 g peas, cooked
• ▢ 30 g Ground Almonds
• ▢ 30 g Parmesan cheese, grated
• ▢ 5-6 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• ▢ 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• ▢ juice of half a lemon
• ▢ sea salt and black pepper
• ▢ 100 g peas, cooked

Instructions

 

• Start by putting a large pot of salted water to boil for the pasta. Once at a rolling boil, add your pasta shapes and leave to cook for around 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Put all the ingredients for your pesto sauce into a blender and blend for around 1-2 minutes.
• Scrape down the sides of the blender then blend again for another 1-2 minutes. Your sauce should be of a medium consistency.
• Add some of the cooking water from the pasta to thin down the pea pesto if necessary rather than adding more olive oil as this will result in an overly oily sauce. This will also make the pesto sauce beautifully silky smooth.
• Add your peas (and any other chopped vegetables, see notes below) to the pasta pan in the minute of cooking time.
• Drain the pasta shapes and peas and place in a large bowl.
• Add the prepared pea pesto and combine well to ensure that all the pasta pieces get coated fully in the delicious sauce.

Recipe Notes

*Other shapes of pasta may weigh more or less.

* Add extra chopped vegetables at the end of your choice, e.g. broccoli florets, asparagus.

*This recipe makes 2 adult and 1 child portion or 2 very generous adult portions!

Course Main Courses

Cuisine Italian

Calories 636kcal

Nutrition Facts

Easy Pea Pesto with Spirali Pasta

Serving Size

 

1 g

Amount per Serving

Calories

636

% Daily Value*

Fat

 

36

g

55

%

Saturated Fat

 

6

g

38

%

Polyunsaturated Fat

 

29

g

Cholesterol

 

9

mg

3

%

Sodium

 

387

mg

17

%

Carbohydrates

 

63

g

21

%

Fiber

 

11

g

46

%

Sugar

 

19

g

21

%

Protein

 

17

g

34

%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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*Nutritional data is provided as a courtesy and is accurate to the best of my knowledge. You can verify it using the nutrition calculator of your choice. All data is based on net carbs, without sugar alcohol: Swerve, Erythritol, Monk Fruit or Allulose.

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