When you forgot to defrost some lean protein and also don't want to bake or sauté any vegetables so you make a pea, arugula, jalapeño pesto to go with your 20 grams of protein chickpea pasta.
This Spicy Pea Pesto Pasta is the ultimate comfort food and yet so nutritious. I've asked people what their least favorite vegetable was and most people agreed that it was peas.
So, I've been working on creating a recipe that includes peas, but doesn't taste like it! Believe it or not but 1 cup of peas is 96% of your daily value of vitamin C, 28% of your daily value of dietary fiber, and 8 grams of protein! So, this Spicy Pea Pesto Pasta gives you not only 28 grams of protein but essential micronutrients as well.
Make this any day you're feeling lazy, don't have much groceries in your fridge besides a frozen bag of peas in your freezer, or as a nutritious comfort meal on a cold, autumn day. No matter what, you're going to love it. The best part is, the recipe is enough for 2-3 plates worth of pasta. So save the leftover pesto for the next day or feed your family/friends!
The pasta I recommend to use for this recipe are medium shell, rigatoni, fusilli, cavatappi, casarecce, or campanelle. Any pasta that is hollowed out will catch the sauce much better. So, let me teach you how to make it!
Yields: 2-3
Prep time: 15 minutes
Total time: 20 minutes
This recipe is dairy free, gluten free, vegetarian, and vegan. (feel free to use any sort of pasta that works for you, if you'd like to use regular pasta and not chickpea that is fine!)
Ingredients:
1. ½ bag of baby arugula
2. ½ cup of extra virgin olive oil
3. 5 garlic cloves
4. 1 jalapeño or more if you like it very spicy, chopped
5. ½ cup of whole walnuts
6. 1 cup of cooked peas, these can be a frozen bag of peas. You just need to defrost them in the microwave in a microwave safe container for up to 3 minutes.
7. 1 TBSP of salt
8. Pasta of choice (this recipe is enough for one box of pasta and more)
9. Optional: ¼ cup of shaved parmesan to garnish
Instructions:
1. First, grab a food processor or blender (preferably food processor).
2. Add the peas, arugula, ½ cup of olive oil, 1 jalapeño (you can add ½ first to see if it’s already too spicy for you), and the salt.
3. Next, in a small sauce pan, add a decent amount of olive oil in. Once it simmers on medium high heat, add in the garlic cloves and walnuts. Make sure to toast them until light brown-brown. Add them to the blender with the olive oil that was in the pan.
4. Purée.
5. Taste test to see if you want to add a bit more of the jalapeño or salt. Once it’s good for you, enjoy on the top of the cooked pasta of choice!
