Fresh and creamy, this Pea, Lemon and Basil Pasta coats penne in a vivid green sauce of blitzed peas, basil and crème fraîche, brightened with lemon and a little parmesan. Children practise using a stick blender to blitz peas and basil into a chunky paste, then stir it through the pasta for a quick, vibrant meal. Its cheap, filling ingredients also make it a great way in to budgeting – how a handful of affordable basics like frozen peas and pasta can stretch into a healthy, satisfying meal.
Prep
10 min
Cook
20 min
Serves
2
Difficulty
Easy
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Ingredients
frozen peas 200 g
fresh basil 15 g (leaves picked)
Parmesan 10 g (grated)
salt pinch
penne pasta 150 g
crème fraîche 100 ml
lemon ¼ (squeezed)
Method
Defrost the peas & preheat the oven
Defrost the peas.
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Cook the pasta & sauce
Put the defrosted frozen peas in the jug then pick the leaves off the fresh basilstalks and put them into the jug with the peas.
Blitz the fresh basil and peas to a chunky paste.
Grate the Parmesan cheese using the fine grater side.
Half fill a large saucepan with water, add a pinch of salt and bring the water up to the boil.
Carefully pour in the dried penne pasta and give it a stir. Cook for 10-12 mins until the pasta pieces are pale in colour and bigger in size.
While the pasta is cooking, put the pea and basil into a mixing bowl with the crème fraîche, squeeze of lemon and 2/3 of the Parmesan. Mix well with the fork.
Carefully drain the pasta using a colander in a sink then pour the drained pasta back into the saucepan.
Add the sauce & finish
Pour the peamixture over the pasta in the pan and mix well with a wooden spoon.
Either eat the pasta straight away sprinkled with the remaining cheese or spoon it into an ovenproof dish and sprinkle the cheese over the top.
If the pasta is being eaten later as a pastabake, cook it in the oven without the lid at 180°C for 15-20 mins until golden and bubbling.
