I'm going to share with you a super-quick, healthy and affordable summer recipe and it's celebrating
frozen peas. They're really affordable, they're frozen, so you waste very little. So I'm going
to show you the most delicious sweet pea pesto pasta. It's so good, it comes together
in under 15 minutes and it's a real family favourite. So let me show you what to do.
A big pan of water on the boil, I've got here some frozen peas – fantastic source of vitamin
C. So we're going to get that into a little sieve like that, and obviously frozen peas also count as
one of your five fruit and veg a day. Pop this in the water just for one minute just to take
the frozen kind of vibes out give them a light little cook. I'll take them out and put them
there. So season your boiling water. We're going to go in with four portions of farfalle pasta,
you can use whatever pasta you want. And that will take about 10 to 12 minutes to cook. Put
the lid back on and take it off as soon as it comes to the boil. OK, so we have these peas
here. First up, I'm just going to take a little bit and put it to one side to put in at the
last minute so it tells the story nicely. I'm gonna now make a version of a pesto. Now look,
we all know the classic Genovese style pesto which is basil, pine nut, Parmesan you know, garlic, stuff
like that. But actually across Italy there's many many – hundreds and hundreds – of different pestos
from different herbs different cheeses different nuts. So I'm going to take that kind of innovation
and kind of mix it up with some sunflower seeds, about one quarter of a clove of garlic. Why do
I need so little? Because it's pungent, it's really strong. And I'll whiz this up in seconds.
And by kind of breaking them up you kind of release their flavour. Now classically
you might see pine nuts used but you can use almonds, you can use hazelnuts. Go
in with these peas. Peas are fantastic, so nutritious. Then I'm gonna add half a bunch
of basil. Not just the pretty leaves, but we'll also go in with the stalks as well.
I've got some lemon here, just take the zest off. You know it's summertime,
it's just nice fragrant flavours. So this goes in, 10 seconds.
And then we're going to go in with some Cheddar cheese, definitely not classic but I think what
I like about this is it's showing how kind of flexible the concept of a pesto is. It can be
better for your baskets, better for your wallets, full of the good stuff and super delicious.
Add yourself about
two tablespoons of olive oil. So just whaz that up. Just scrape the sides like that and salt and
pepper can go in. Also, not classic, but I like it especially at summertime, just a little squeeze of
lemon juice half a lemon will be really refreshing and really delicious. One last little whiz up.
It's getting really creamy. Mix it up, have a little taste.
Oh, wowzers. So, we're about three minutes away on the pasta. So we're going to put the broccoli
into this water now, just cut those little florets off like that. In my family the kids
absolutely love broccoli. So I'm just going to take the stalk and slice it up. We don't want to
waste anything, that goes in the water as well. Two minutes of boiling and then we'll drain it.
So, just two minutes we don't want to overcook the beautiful broccoli. Just drain that in the
colander. And while it's still draining, save some of that water, really precious starchy water.
Save that because we're gonna mix with the pasta and the pesto. Just go in with that lovely pesto.
Look at those colours. Full of the good stuff. If you want to break some of the broccoli up you
can, it doesn't matter if it mushes. And then what you want is a nice elegant light pasta,
like that. If it needs a bit more water just feed it with a little bit more of that boiling water
from the cooking. Beautiful, look at the colour! Vivid green, smells amazing, check the seasoning
with salt and pepper. If you want a little bit more cheese and olive oil, you can. That little
bit of frozen pea at the beginning I'm just going to put back in so it tells the story
of the peas visually. So just mix that through and when you're happy, let's celebrate it on a nice big
platter. Look at that. Imagine that, any time of year but especially in the summery months.
Gorgeous, simple pasta, absolutely beautiful, look at that! Full of colour and all done in under 15
minutes and less than a pound a portion, that's pretty good going. Right, let's have a little try.
You can see it's a nice generous portion. Mmm! Come on. Delicious. A family favourite that's healthy,
super affordable, making a big deal out of an old friend – frozen peas – delicious. If you
want me to do anything else for you or if you have a challenge or a question simply put it in
the comments box below, and I will do my very best to make that my next video, take care.