Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Easy Peasy

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I heart peas! Always have, always will. I bought a basketful of them the other day. Fresh and sweet. And never enough.
When it comes to peas creativity fails me. Every time. There's only three dishes I've ever made with fresh peas. And that's just fine by me. I make chilled pea and mint soup, a pea, pancetta and pecorino crostini topper and this little recipe right here. Creature of habit that I am, I'll probably stick to them.
Because there's not a lot of cooking involved, the quality and freshness of your ingredients is of the utmost importance here.
Fresh, organic (if possible) peas and mint and the best quality feta you can find. I've been buying my feta cheese from the same place for years. From a sweet old lady at the farmer's market. She's small, shy and as cute as they come. She also sells the best filo pastry outside of Greece, Kalamata olives and fresh mint. (Spanakopita? Good thinking!) Oh, and she also just passed her driving exam. Again. Annoying, (as she put it), but once you turn 80 they make you to do these crazy things from time to time. Such is life! Her words, not mine.

Green peas with feta, yogurt and mint

Ingredients:

2 lb fresh peas in the pod, shelled
1/2 lb best quality feta cheese
1/4 lb Greek yogurt
1/4 lb creme fraiche
1 bunch of scallions, finely sliced
handful of mint, shredded
2 tbsp olive oil
juice and zest of 1 lemon

Cook peas in boiling water just until al dente. Drain well. Mix with olive oil, scallions and mint.
In a separate bowl mix yogurt, lemon zest, creme fraiche and feta. Add to pea mixture. Season to taste with sea salt, pepper and lemon juice. Serve with warm pita bread. You can also sprinkle some sumac on top for good measure.
Ultra delish both warm and cold.