Give Peas a Chance

I try to eat seasonally, but sometimes (all too often, really) my mouth gets ahead of things. I feel that way about peas. To me, peas seem like the perfect spring vegetable, like artichokes or asparagus. Alas, in New England, fresh peas are rarely available until late June -- hence that traditional Fourth of July dish, salmon and peas.  Fortunately, I've found a way to get the pea fix I've been craving. Right now, a number of the farmers at the markets in Portsmouth and Boston are selling pea tendrils. These actually aren't really tendrils at all, but rather the leaves and shoots of a young pea plant. I've discovered that they have a surprisingly strong, authentic pea flavor.

Last week, we found fresh pea tendrils at the Meadow's Mirth stand in Portsmouth. Usually we serve pea tendrils raw in salads or lightly sauteed as part of an Asian stir fry. This time, we decided it would be fun to try using them instead of basil in a pesto sauce for homemade pasta with smoked scallops. While Dave and Robin made the pasta and smoked the local day-boat scallops in our Bradley smoker, I made the pesto, using the blender pesto recipe from Marcella Hazan's The Classic Italian Cookbook. (I, however, find it easier to use the Cuisinart rather than the blender.)

The pea tendril leaves are about the same size and texture as basil leaves, but they don't bruise as easily and don't discolor. I toast the pine nuts just a little before adding them to the pesto and I don't use the butter as Marcella suggests.

By the way, this recipe freezes well, as long as you don't add the cheese until you're ready to serve it. In the fall, we often use it to make huge quantities of basil pesto before the frost does in that tender herb. This year, I might try making some pea tendril pesto for the freezer as well. After all, sometimes, I get a hankering for peas in winter, too.

Blender Pesto
ala Marcella Hazan from The Classic Italian Cookbook
Enough for about 6 servings of pasta

Ingredients
2 cups fresh basil leaves (I used 2 cups of pea tendrils. This recipe also works for parsley, cilantro or garlic scape pesto.)
1/2 cup of olive oil (I use extra virgin)
2 tablespoons pin nuts (I toast them briefly)
2 cloves garlic, lightly crushed with a heavy knife handle and peeled
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons freshly grated Romano pecorino cheese
3 tablespoons butter, softened to room temperature (I eliminate this -- and add more cheese, if the texture isn't right.)

Directions
1. Put the basil, olive oil, pine nuts, garlic cloves, and salt in the blender and mix at high speeds. Stop from time to time and scrape the ingredients down towards the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. [Using the Cuisinart, I pulsed the pea tendrils, pine nuts, garlic cloves, and salt, then added the olive oil in a stream to make an emulsion.]
2. When the ingredients are evenly combined, pour into a bowl and beat in the two grated cheeses by hand. (This is not much work and results in a more interesting texture and better flavor than you get when you mix the cheese in the blender.) [When I'm using the Cuisinart, I take out the blade and mix by hand in the bowl.] When the cheese has been has been evenly incorporated into the other ingredients, beat in the softened butter. [I usually eliminate this step.]
3. Before spooning the pesto over the pasta, add to it a teaspoon or so of the hot water in which the pasta has been boiled.

If you want to freeze the pesto, follow the recipe in Step 1. DO NOT ADD CHEESE OR BUTTER. To take up less room in the freezer, I put enough for a portion in a Ziploc freezer bag, flatten, seal tightly, and freeze. Before using, thaw overnightin the refrigerator. When completely thawed, beat in the cheese and butter as in Step 2. Before spooning over pasta, add the pasta water as in Step 3.