Pea Pesto (with Mint and Arugula)

Bowl of pasta tossed with pea pesto and garnished with pea shoots, dollops of cream and cheese.

5 from 3 votes

Fresh, bright, and so easy to make, this Pea Pesto is spring in a bowl. It’s sweet from the peas, peppery from the arugula, fresh from the mint, and rounded out with toasted almonds, lemon, Parmesan, and olive oil. Toss it with pasta for an easy meal, slather it on crostini, add it to a cheese board, or fold it into a salad dressing.

Prep Time10

Cook Time3

Total Time13

Course: condiment, Main Course

Cuisine: Mediterranean, Seasonal

Diet: Vegetarian

Servings: Servings

Author: Luay Ghafari

Cost: $10

Equipment

Small food processor - Affiliate link

Ingredients

⅓ cup Toasted almonds
1 cup Fresh or thawed peas
1 cup Arugula
¼ cup Fresh mint leaves
1 Garlic clove
2 tbsp Lemon juice - From 1 lemon
1 tbsp Lemon zest - From 1 lemon
½ cup Grated parmesan
⅓-½ cup Extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
Chili flakes - Optional

Instructions

Toast your Almonds (Optional). If you are using untoasted almonds, toast them in a 300F oven for 10 minutes.
Prepare the peas. Blanch fresh or thawed peas in salted water for 2–3 minutes, then cool and pat dry with a paper towel.
Blend the Base. Add the peas, arugula, mint, almonds, garlic clove, lemon zest, lemon juice, and Parmesan to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until finely chopped.
Emulsify. With the motor running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil until the pesto is smooth but still has a little texture.
Finish. Season with salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes if using. Taste and adjust with more lemon, salt, or olive oil as needed.
Store or Serve. At this point, you can store your pesto in a glass jar in the fridge. Or toss with short pasta and finish with freshly grated Parmesan and a little extra lemon zest before serving.

Notes

Refer to the post above if you need step by step photos or more pairing and menu ideas.

Ley Ingredient Notes:

Green Peas: Wouldn’t be a pea pesto without peas. I like to use fresh peas when they are in season. But frozen peas work well if you want to make this year-round.
Arugula: I like bulking up this pesto with baby arugula. It’s peppery and balances the sweeter notes from the peas and mint. But feel free to use another green like spinach.
Almonds: Toasted almonds add nuttiness and body. You can swap them for walnuts, pine nuts, pumpkin seeds or cashews.
Mint: Basil is used in traditional Genovese pesto. But keeping this pesto spring-themed means using spring flavors, and I think fresh mint leaves work really nicely.
Lemon: You will need both lemon zest and juice. Lemon is not traditional in pesto, but I like using it for 2 reasons: it helps balance the pepperiness from the arugula and the richness from the olive oil and parmesan. It also helps preserve the pesto’s bright green color and reduces the chance of oxidation.
Parmesan Cheese: I like to use Parmigiano-Reggiano. It adds saltiness and richness. I do prefer to grate it myself before adding it to the blender, but you can also use pre-grated. I don’t recommend using shelf-stable Parmesan in the can! Pecorino can work too for a sharper finish. Or if you want to keep the recipe vegan, use some nutritional yeast.

Storage Tips:

You can make it in advance and keep it in the fridge until you’re ready to use it. It’s a great prep-ahead sauce for pasta nights, sandwiches, or grain bowls. It should last in the fridge for 5 days.
Store the pesto in an airtight container in the refrigerator. I prefer glass over plastic as plastic Tupperware may stain. A thin layer of olive oil on top can help protect the surface from oxidation.
Pea pesto freezes very well. You can freeze it for up to 3 months for the best quality, but I have used 6-month-old frozen pesto just fine. Portioning it into small containers or cubes makes it especially convenient.

Nutrition