Fresh pea shoots have been reserved for garnishing for far too long! Let's bring them to the limelight and make this delicious Pea Shoot Pesto recipe. This easy recipe can be paired with pasta, pizza, spread on sandwiches or used as a dip! And it only takes 10 minutes of prep time!
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Pea Shoots: More Versatile Than You Think
Have you ever had a few sweet pea shoots topping your meal at a restaurant and wished you could have more of them on your plate?
Their delicate flavour is a great addition to many meals, including Salmon & Pea Shoot Risotto, Pea Shoot Pasta and Chinese Stir-Fried Pea Shoots, known as Dou Miaou. Or you can simply make a delicious and fresh Pea Shoot Salad!
Ingredients and Substitutes
- pea shoots: sometimes known as pea tendrils or pea sprouts.
- garlic cloves: minced or finely chopped.
- pine nuts: lightly toast your pine nuts in a dry pan and let them cool before using in pesto. You may also use toasted walnuts, pecans or pistachio nuts.
- parmesan cheese: may be replaced with other hard cheese like Grana Padano or Pecorino Romano.
- lemon: choose juicy unwaxed lemons as we use both lemon zest and lemon juice in this recipe. This recipe works well with limes too!
- extra virgin olive oil.
- salt.
Variations: You can use wild garlic (or green garlic, also known as garlic scapes instead of garlic cloves), add various other fresh herbs like mint leaves and basil leaves, or switch the pine nuts for other soft and buttery nuts like pecans or walnuts.
Method
1. Roughly chop the pea shoots and place them in a food processor bowl alongside toasted pine nuts, parmesan, lemon zest and juice and salt.
2. Blitz everything into a rough paste.
3. Add the olive oil and pulse until well combined.
4. Taste and adjust the seasoning, if needed. Add a little more oil if you want a looser texture for your pea shoot pesto.
What's next? Make our Pea Shoot Pasta!
How To Use Pea Shoot Pesto?
Whilst our favourite way to enjoy pea shoot pesto is to stir it through hot pasta and top it with extra parmesan cheese, there are many more delicious ways to incorporate this pesto recipe into your meals:
- Spread pea shoot pesto on your sandwiches or drizzle over homemade pizza.
- Pea Shoot Pesto is a great way to make your pork chop, baked chicken breast or a piece of white fish more flavoursome and vibrant.
- Drizzle it over risotto!
- Loosen your pesto with extra olive oil and use it as a salad dressing. It is delicious with our Courgette Ribbon and Baby Spinach Salad!
- Dip crusty ciabatta or crunchy fresh veggies into this pea shoot pesto for a delicious appetizer.
Recipe FAQs
What Are Pea Shoots? What Pea Shoots To Use?
Pea shoots (sometimes referred to as pea tendrils) come from the young pea plant. Fresh pea shoots refer to the tender leaves of a pea plant and part of the pea shoot stem, often used in salads (like our Pea Shoot Salad with Lemon Dressing) and stir-fries for their sweet flavour. The curly tendrils of pea plants are those spiral parts that help the plant climb. Both have a mild flavour and can be used to make pesto. Find more ideas in our Pea Shoot Recipes collection.
How To Store Pea Shoot Pesto?
Leftover pesto can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Whilst it is best served fresh, you can freeze pea shoot pesto in ice cube trays, but thawed pesto is best used for hot food, like pasta or to stir through a risotto.
More Pesto Recipes
Homemade pesto stands head and shoulders above shop-bought one. What is more, if you're bored of traditional pesto (typically, basil pesto with pine nuts), maybe we can temp your with our favourite variations:
Pea Shoot Pesto
Equipment
- Food Processor or Blender
Ingredients
- 150 g (1 cups) pea shoots roughly chopped
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 40 g (⅓ cups) pine nuts lightly toasted
- 25 g (¼ cups) parmesan finely grated
- ½ lemon zest and juice
- 50 ml (4 tablespoon) extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Add the peashoots, garlic, toasted pine nuts, parmesan, lemon zest and juice and salt in a food processor and blitz into a rough paste.
- Add the olive oil and pulse until well combined.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning, if needed. Add a little more oil if you want a looser texture of your pea shoot pesto.
Nutrition
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