This pasta and peas with mint pistachio pesto recipe is a unique twist on classic pasta and pesto. Fresh green peas, mint, garlic, and roasted pistachios are blended together to make a flavorful and vibrant pasta sauce for tossing with noodles, more peas and creamy sauteed leeks. It's a satisfying and refreshing dinner recipe great for weeknight cooking.
Pesto is almost synonymous with basil, but it's not the only herb you can puree into a tasty sauce. Mint, for one, is a great alternative. It's the first herb to flourish in my yard each spring, and I always have more than I need.
This pasta dish is a great way to put a bunch of mint to use, and when blended with peas, makes a vibrant green sauce with a ton of flavor thanks to lemon juice, garlic, and pistachios. It's a pesto and puree hybrid that you're going to love.
If pesto is your jam, then you'll also want to check out my vegan pesto pasta salad recipe. If you're looking for other spring foods try these easy cheese and chive scones. Or for another garden-inspired pasta dish, there's my zucchini mushroom pasta.
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🍝Ingredients
Here's everything you need to make pasta and peas with mint pistachio pesto.
- Pasta, a thicker noodle such as fettuccine or linguine
- Green peas either fresh or frozen and defrosted
- Fresh leeks to create a savory mild onion flavor
- Pistachios, roasted for the most flavor
- Fresh mint leaves for adding a fresh herby taste to the pea sauce
- Garlic for a little bite in the sauce
- Lemon zest and juice for adding a hint of bright citrus flavor
- Unsalted butter for cooking the leeks
- Extra virgin olive oil to make the pea pesto sauce
- Chives (optional) for topping the pasta
See the recipe card below for quantities.
If you're looking for a quality pasta to use in this dish, check out Rao's Homemade Italian pasta. It's made in Italy and has more flavor than your typical grocery store pasta.
🔪Instructions
To make this pasta and peas with mint pistachio pesto, we're going to boil the pasta, saute chopped leeks, blend the pesto, and then toss it all together. It's so simple.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
Sautee the leeks in the butter until soft and almost creamy, about 10 minutes.
Blend the sauce ingredients together until smooth.
Thinly slice the leeks and rinse well to remove any dirt or sand.
Get the oil, lemon juice, pistachios, salt, garlic, mint, and peas in the food processor to blend.
Toss the pea sauce with the pasta, leeks, additional peas, lemon zest, and pasta water, as needed. Top with pistachios and herbs and serve.
Tip: Don't forget to save some of the pasta water and use it to thin out the sauce. This is a smart approach because the water is full of flavor and starch from the pasta. This works when making just about any pasta sauce.
Sometimes I'll even save some water in the fridge for when I reheat a pasta dish that has thickened up and needs thinning out. My high school Italian teacher first told me about this tip and I always think of her when I do it. Grazie, Senora!
🌿Substitutions & Variations
- Instead of mint in the pesto, try basil, parsley, arugula, or a combination of herbs.
- For a more traditional pesto, you could throw about a ¼ cup of Parmesan cheese into the food processor with the other ingredients. And/or top your dish with grated Parm.
- If you don't have pistachios, try almonds, pine nuts, or walnuts instead.
🥡Storage
Store leftovers in the fridge for up to four days. Save some of the pasta water and use it to thin out the sauce when reheating.
💭FAQ
Typically, no. But in this dish, we're not cooking the peas before they go into the pesto. So in this case, yes, you'll want to defrost the peas.
Healthy is subjective. But, if you take a look at the recipe card you'll see this dish is a good source of protein, fiber, Vitamin C, and Vitamin A.
I think it depends on the other flavors you're incorporating into your pesto. With this one, we're including peas and mint, which is definitely not the norm. Experiment and see what you like. I don't think you can go wrong with most nuts and seeds as long as they don't overwhelm the other flavors in the dish.
Pasta and Peas with Mint Pistachio Pesto
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: about 5 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
This pasta and peas with mint pistachio pesto is a unique twist on classic pasta with pesto. Fresh green peas, mint, garlic, and roasted pistachios are blended together to make a flavorful and vibrant pasta sauce for tossing with noodles and creamy sauteed leeks.
Ingredients
- 3 large leeks (or 5 small-medium)
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for the pasta water
- 1 pound linguine, fettuccine, or other noodles
- ¾ cup chopped toasted pistachios
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 cup fresh mint leaves, packed
- 2 cups fresh or frozen peas, defrosted if frozen
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small bunch of chives, chopped
- freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Cut the dark green tops and roots off your leeks and discard for compost or save them with other vegetable scraps to make your own broth. Roughly slice the white and light green portion of the leeks and then rinse in a strainer to remove any dirt. You should have about 4 cups of sliced leeks.
- In a heavy-bottomed pan, heat the butter over medium-high heat until melted and bubbling. Add the leeks and ½ teaspoon of salt. Cook, stirring often, for about 10 minutes, or until they're tender and lightly browned.
- Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt the water well and cook the pasta until al dente. Save a couple of ladles full of pasta water in a bowl, then drain off the remaining water.
- While the pasta and leeks cook, make the pesto. Combe ½ cup of the pistachios with the garlic, mint, 1 cup of peas, olive oil, lemon juice, and remaining ½ teaspoon of salt in a food processor. Process until smooth.
- When the leeks are done cooking, add them to your pot of pasta along with the pesto, lemon zest, remaining peas, and some of the reserved pasta water. Heat for just a couple of minutes to warm up the peas. Then toss well with tongs to coat and add more of the water, if you want a thinner sauce. Serve topped with additional mint leaves or chives, if using, black pepper, and pistachios.
Notes
Try fresh ramps instead of leeks, if you can find them.
Feel free to top your pasta with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
Don't have pistachios? Try walnuts, pine nuts, pecans, or cashews.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Pasta
- Method: Stove-top
Keywords: peas, mint, pesto, pistachios, pea pasta, pea pasta sauce
Steve
A healthy and fresh tasting pasta dish great for spring and summer.
★★★★★