I made this pesto pea salad from Ina Garten’s, The Barefoot Contessa at Home cookbook while my husband’s Aunts were visiting and it was a hit. I like to grow basil during the summer months and use it to make pesto or in a caprese salad with tomato and mozzarella. This pesto pea salad is easy to put together and different from the usual spinach or pea salad. I love the combination of flavors and textures.
You can buy pesto at the grocery store or if you have basil growing at home, make your own. For Ina’s pesto recipe click here. It’s very simple to make and freezes well. The recipe calls for a food processor, but if you have a really good blender that would work too. You can freeze any leftover prepared pesto in freezer sandwich bags and use it throughout the year.
I also keep a huge bag of pine nuts I bought at either Costco or Sam’s Club in the freezer. I didn’t toast them and they worked just fine. I love the taste of pine nuts and they make a nice addition to this salad.
Linking to: Foodie Fridays
| Pesto Pea Salad | Print |
- ¼ lb. baby spinach leaves
- 1 (10 oz) pkg frozen peas, defrosted
- ½ cup prepared pesto
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tbsp toasted pine nuts
- Wash the spinach leaves and spin them dry.
- Place the spinach and the peas in a large bowl.
- Add the pesto and Parmesan, then sprinkle with the salt.
- Toss well, sprinkle with pine nuts, and serve.
We make our own pesto but I have never paired it with peas! Looking forward to trying this with our peas from our CSA this summer! Thanks for linking it up with us at Foodie Fridays!
You are right Dawn! I would LOVE this. It looks very fresh. I’m making it! Will let you know what I think by coming back and rating it.
I LOVE pesto! Just made some last week for a shrimp pasta. This looks so fresh.
Hope you enjoy it! You’ll have to share your shrimp pasta recipe 🙂