Creamy Pea Pasta
The secret ingredient in this creamy pea pasta might surprise you… cottage cheese! A rogue one, I know, but combined with peas, basil, parmesan and garlic, it makes for a very delicious pasta sauce that has the added benefit of being high in protein.
I’m not ordinarily a fan of cottage cheese but I love this dish, so if you’re in the same boat, there’s a high chance you’ll love it too! But if you really, really can’t stomach the stuff, you can substitute it for ricotta, mascarpone, creme fraiche or even cream cheese.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
Scale
- 400g dried pasta of choice
- 200g frozen peas
- 200g cottage cheese
- 20g fresh basil leaves
- 30g parmigiano reggiano, grated
- 1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
- 1 lemon, juice, optional
- sprinkle of pink peppercorns, optional
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Season generously with salt (the water should be sea-level salty) and cook your pasta according to the package instructions.
- Meanwhile, place the frozen peas in a bowl, cover with cold water and leave to thaw for 10 minutes, then drain.
- Place the thawed peas in a food processor, along with the cottage cheese, fresh basil leaves, parmigiano reggiano, garlic and extra-virgin olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and blitz until smooth-ish. If needed, you can add a splash of water to loosen the sauce; just make sure you taste it and adjust the salt level to your liking afterwards.
- Drain the pasta, reserving a two to three ladlefuls of the pasta cooking water. Add the sauce to the drained pasta, along with a splash of the pasta cooking water, and toss over a medium heat until the sauce nicely coats the pasta, adding more pasta water as needed. Serve with an extra drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and an optional squeeze of lemon juice and pinch of pink peppercorns – enjoy!
Find it online: https://zenaskitchen.com/creamy-pea-pasta/