Pea Toasts
Seasonal peas served on bruschetta style toasts to celebrate Springtime. Peas have to be one of my favourite vegetables of the season: both fun to harvest and then pod. My daughter and I love to do this together as it is both satisfying and mediative.
This is the ideal recipe for sharing at gatherings with family and friends. You could make ahead and then assemble the toasts before serving; if you have any broad beans you can top the toasts with these too.
ingredients
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 shallot
1 garlic clove
150g peas
2 tablespoons ricotta
1 tablespoon Parmesan, grated (optional)
1 lemon, juice and zest
pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 baguette
fresh basil
method
Peel half a Preheat the oven to 170C fan oven. Cut 8-10 baguette slices and lay on a lined baking tray. Toast in the oven for 3-4 mins until crisp. Turning for 1-2 mins on the reverse side. Rub each toast with 1/2 garlic clove, then drizzle with olive oil and set aside.
Sauté diced shallot in a tablespoon of olive oil for 3-4 minutes until softened, add 1/2 garlic clove crushed for 1 min more cooking, then set aside to cool. Cook the peas in boiling water for 3-4 minutes. Drain and plunge into ice cold water for 1 minute, to set the colour. Then drain again and set aside. Reserve 1-2 tablespoons of the peas, to finish the dish.
In a blender add the cooled onion/ garlic mix, cooked peas, ricotta, Parmesan, juice of 1 lemon. Blitz to a rough consistency. Remove to a bowl and fold through the cooked peas (you reserved earlier), to add a bit of texture. Season to taste with a few grinds of fresh black pepper and a pinch of sea salt. Top each toast with a heaped teaspoon of the pea and ricotta mix. Repeat until the mix is finished. Garnish with fresh lemon zest, fresh basil and a final grating of Parmesan.
