Natalie's Pesto & Pea Pasta Salad
bbq, dinner, pasta, picnic, tomake, vegetarian
Ingredients
1 pound orchiette
1 cup basil (packed)
1/2 cup spinach (packed)
1 tablespoon toasted pine nuts
1 clove garlic
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cups fresh peas (shelled)
handful mint
handful dill
3/4 cup crumbled French feta (or Greek )
kosher or sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
Directions
Cook the pasta according to ingredients on the box with well salted pasta water. Drain the pasta and spread in an even layer on a baking sheet and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil to prevent the pasta from sticking together. Allow the pasta to cool entirely.
To prep the peas, prepare a bowl of water with ice water. Then cook the peas in boiling water for about 10 minutes and drain the peas and place the in the ice water for several minutes, then drain.
To prepare the pesto, place the garlic clove in a food processer and mince. Add the spinach and basil and pine nuts and pulse several times. Stream in the oil while leaving the food processer on until it blends into a smooth pesto.
Toss the pesto with the pasta and add peas, torn dill and mint and combine. Crumble French feta over the salad.
Notes
2021-11-16 Natalie: _This is really yummy and herby. I sometimes replace the peas with chopped sugar snap peas or asparagus. Something green and crunchy
Oh I also don’t bother making the pesto I just buy it._