It is the season for sugar snap peas (Pisum sativum var. macrocarpon), and we have had a wonderful harvest of sugar snaps in our yard, and we expect more from Restoration Farm, our CSA.
So today I made a special sweet pea dish — Pasta with Chorizo and Peas – for my seven-year-old swee’pea who is in charge of peas at home, from planting to watering to harvesting (he gets assistance in stringing the poles as our peas need strings to climb on with their delicate tendrils. We buy sugar snap seeds from Botanical Interests).
He collected peas between World Cup matches today and then we spent a companionable half hour shelling the peas and eating many of them as we watched Costa Rica play Greece in the World Cup and I put the water to boil. At halftime I made dinner to eat during the second half.
So the following Pasta with Chorizo and Peas is a new recipe and below that you’ll find links to some of our perennial favorites: Spanish tortillas and Italian pastas. This recipe uses only the peas, but the pods are edible. I sliced the pea pods into my salad, as he doesn’t like those and I find them wonderfully crunchy and sweet.
Pasta with Chorizo and Sweet Peas (serves two for a meal; four as a starter)
8 oz dry short pasta, such as penne, farfalle or medium shells
1-2 Tbs butter (reserve 2nd optional Tbs for finishing)
1 Tbs minced onion
¼ Cup hot, dry Spanish chorizo, peeled and chopped small
¼ – ½ Cup fresh sweet peas (thawed frozen will work too)
Grated cheese to taste (Parmigiano Reggiano or Grana Padano preferred, but cheddar will work too)
While the pasta is boiling (be generous with the salt in the water), melt 1 Tbs butter at medium high. When foaming subsides, lower heat and add minced onion, stirring occasionally until tender and translucent. Add chorizo and peas and cook just until chorizo begins to release color.
When the pasta is ready, reserve ½ cup of the cooking liquid before draining.
Return the pasta to the pot, reducing heat to low and add chorizo and pea mixture. Add the reserved optional butter and allow to melt. Stir in the cheese and add the reserved pasta water as needed to make saucy. Serve with additional grated cheese if desired.
Spaghetti alla Carbonara with Peas (piselli)
Pasta e piselli (Pasta with sweet peas and ham)
Tortilla Torcal (potato, chorizo, ham, peas)
Tortilla Primaveral (Spanish Stovetop Frittata for Spring with leeks, potatoes and peas)
P.S. I also slice pea pods into this Cold Rice Noodle and Tahini Salad that includes radishes from our garden
It looks like you’ve got a good harvest – I bet they were delicious with chorizo 😉
Oh they were….but you can’t go wrong with chorizo and peas, can you?
No, I’m sure you can’t 🙂