YIELDS:
1 Cup
PREP TIME:
0 hours 5 mins
COOK TIME:
0 hours 0 mins
TOTAL TIME:
0 hours 5 mins
My Curated Tastes is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you.
ingredients
2 1/2 – 3 Cups Pea Shoots
1/4 Cup Parmesan cheese, grated or shaved
5 Cloves of garlic
1/4 Cup Walnuts
1/4 Tsp. Kosher salt plus more to taste
1/3 Cup olive oil plus up to
1/3 cup more when processing
DIRECTIONS
1) Add the pea shoots, cheese, garlic, walnuts, 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/3 cup of olive oil to a food processor. Blend until really smooth. About 2 minutes.
2) With the motor on, continue drizzling olive oil into the mix until you have the consistency you want. You want it thick but pourable. Add a couple of tablespoons at a time.
3) Taste and add more salt if necessary. Bottle and keep in the fridge until you are ready to use. Enjoy!
NOTES: What do you do when you have an excess amount of pea shoots growing in your backyard or on your kitchen counter? You make pesto. This garlicky pea shoot pesto came out delish! I’ve been using it on pasta and sandwiches all week.
I was recently gifted a Hamama microgreen starter kit with a ton of seed quilts to grow my own microgreens at home. I’m loving it and it has become a great way to get microgreens into my diet (they are packed with nutrients) and it’s fun! I’m sure I’ll have more on that soon but for now, I had planted pea shoots that literally grew so fast and so big that I had a ton of extra shoots and decided to try them in making a pesto. This is the result. Note: you can buy pea shoots at most supermarkets and definitely at Whole Foods and Sprouts.
I used my basic formula for making pesto and substituted the pea shoots for my typical herbs. (I like to make a Pistachio Basil Pesto in the summer.) The result is an earthy tasting pesto that worked great on pasta. Considering making this pesto takes just 5 minutes, I think everyone needs it in their arsenal for quick, tasty meals.
To make this, you are simply going to add the pea shoots to the food processor, along with, the cheese, garlic, walnuts, salt and 1/3 cup of olive oil. Let it blend a good two minutes to get it really smooth.
Then, with the motor on, drizzle in more olive oil until you get the consistency you want. I knew I was going to use this on pasta and as a spread on sandwiches so I made it loose (pourable) but stick thick enough to spread. I recommend tasting the pesto and adding more salt if needed.
This will keep in a covered jar in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks. Give it a try. If you are looking for other easy and delicious sauces for pasta, check out these:
