Green Pea Sauce Recipes

Steps:

• For the dipping sauce: Put the basil, dill, mint, chives, Roasted Meyer Lemon juice, mayonnaise and Greek yogurt in a food processor and process until smooth. Season to taste with salt. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
• For the arancini: Remove 1 cup of the frozen peas and reserve for later use. Put the remaining peas in a blender with 1 cup of the vegetable stock and puree until smooth. Pour the pea mixture into a medium saucepot and add the remaining 3 cups stock and 2 teaspoons salt. Bring to a low simmer over medium-low heat.
• Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a medium Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the rice and cook until opaque and lightly toasted. Stir in the shallot and garlic; cook an additional 2 to 3 minutes to toast the garlic and soften the shallot. Deglaze the pot with the white wine, then bring to a boil and cook until almost completely reduced. Ladle in one-third of the hot stock, lower the heat to medium, and bring the stock to a simmer, stirring often. Continue to stir the rice for 8 minutes while the stock reduces almost completely. When there is more rice in the pot than liquid, add another third of the stock and repeat stirring and reducing the stock for another 8 minutes. Add the remaining stock and this time reduce just until the rice is thick enough that a spoon leaves a momentary trail when dragged along the bottom of the pot. Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons butter, Parmesan, lemon zest, reserved peas, and additional salt and black pepper to taste.
• Lightly grease a baking sheet with canola oil and spread the risotto in an even layer; set aside to cool. When the risotto is room temperature, cover it with plastic wrap, pressed directly to the surface of the rice, and refrigerate for 4 hours or up to overnight.
• Form the chilled risotto into 19 arancini balls, about 1/4 cup each. Flatten each ball with the palm of your hand, place a heaping teaspoon of mozzarella in the center and fold the sides up and around the cheese. Roll back into balls. (At this point, you can hold the arancini overnight on a baking sheet covered with plastic wrap.)
• When ready to fry, heat 2 to 3 inches of canola oil to 350 degrees F in a large cast-iron pan. Line a baking sheet with paper towels.
• Whisk the eggs together in a shallow dish and season with salt and pepper. In a second shallow dish, add the panko and season with salt and pepper. Dip the arancini in the egg and then coat in the panko.
• In batches of a few at a time, fry the arancini, turning, until deep golden-brown and crispy on all sides, about 4 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on the paper towels; immediately season with salt.
• Serve hot with the dipping sauce.
• Heat a cast-iron pan over medium-high heat; add the honey and olive oil. When the honey is melted, stir to combine, then place the lemon halves, cut-side down, into the mixture. Cook until the lemons appear charred and the honey has caramelized to the cut surfaces, about 4 minutes. Remove the lemons to a baking sheet and let to cool.

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the leek and scallions and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 6 minutes. Add the thyme and 3 cups of chicken stock, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, until the stock is thick and reduced by half, about 20 minutes. Season to taste with salt.
• Add the peas, bring the stock back to a simmer, and cook until tender but still bright green, about 4 minutes.
• Remove the thyme. Working in small batches, puree the mixture in a blender or food processor. Pass the pureed pea mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl set over ice. Thin the sauce with chicken stock, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the sauce is just thicker than heavy cream. Stir it over ice until it is cool, about 5 minutes. Remove from the ice. Set aside until ready to use. Serve with sturgeon and spring vegetables (see above).

Steps:

• Put all the ingredients into a pot together and bring to a boil.
• Cook uncovered for 3-5 minutes, until the peas have turned tender. Fresh peas won't take long; if you're using REALLY frozen ones like I did you might at least 6-7 minutes.
• Puree in a blender or food processor until totally smooth; it will be a thin sauce. Can be eaten right away or chilled for future use. Keeps for about a week, but freezes well.

Steps:

• Cook the spaghetti following pack instructions. Meanwhile, boil the kettle, put the spinach and peas in a bowl, and cover with boiling water. Leave for about 3 mins until the peas are tender, then drain well. Tip the veg into a food processor or blender, add the basil, pesto, cream and Parmesan, and whizz to make a smooth sauce.
• Drain the pasta, reserving a little of the cooking water, and return to the pan. Pour over the sauce and return to a low heat to cook for a few mins, until the sauce clings to the spaghetti. Add a little pasta water if it looks too dry, season to taste and serve with extra Parmesan and scattered with basil leaves, if you like.

Steps:

• Rinse the asparagus, snap off the tough bottom stub of each spear (and save; see the recipe that follows). Slice each spear crosswise into 1/4-inch pieces; if the spear is fatter than 1/2 inch, slice it lengthwise in half or quarters. You want the asparagus pieces to be approximately pea-size. Slice the spears to make 4 cupfuls.
• Pour 1/4 cup of the oil into the skillet, set over medium-high heat, and stir in the onions. After a minute or two, when the onions are gently sizzling, stir in the leek pieces and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt. Cook for a minute, drop the peperoncino into a hot spot to toast briefly, then stir and cook until the leeks are hot and starting to wilt, 3 minutes or so.
• Dump in the green peas and stir with the other vegetables. Cover the pan, lower the heat, and let the vegetables cook, sizzling gently. Shake the pan frequently, uncover it occasionally, and adjust the heat as needed to make sure the onions aren't in danger of burning.
• After 6 minutes or more, when the onions are pale gold and the peas are softening, stir in the asparagus pieces and the scallions, then the butter and another 1/2 teaspoon salt. Pour in 1/3 cup of water, and stir well to moisten everything.
• Bring the sauce to a slow simmer and keep it cooking, very slowly, over low heat, for about 30 minutes. Stir occasionally, and add spoonfuls of water to the sauce if it seems to be getting dry. The vegetables should become very soft but still retain their shape and identity the sauce as a whole should be moist and thick. When it's reached this stage, turn off the heat, and stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the shredded mint leaves.
• Use right away or let it cool. The sauce can be refrigerated for several days. If frozen, the texture will change but the flavor will be fine it will keep for several weeks.
• Good With . . .
• Both dry and fresh pastas
• Gnocchi
• As a topping for polenta
• As a base for risotto
• Potato, Leek, and Bacon Ravioli (page 186)