Summer Pea Pasta

Serves 6, you can easily halve the recipe for 4 slightly lighter portions

Ingredients

500g plain Greek yoghurt
150ml olive oil, divided
4 cloves garlic, crushed
500g fresh or thawed frozen peas, divided – we usually opt for a handful of fresh because they’re SO glorious this time of year, and then the rest frozen to save some $$$
500g dried pasta, we opt for penne as the little peas collect inside the tubes, but you could use any shape you like
Scant 1/2 cup pine nuts
2 tsp chilli flakes, we went for half Aleppo and half regular
1 1/2 cups (about a bunch) fresh basil leaves, coarsely torn
240g feta cheese, broken into chunks – goat’s, sheep’s, cow’s all work deliciously
Salt and white pepper, if you’ve only got black pepper that’ll work too but the milder white pepper is very complementary.

Summary

Of course it was Yotam who introduced us to yoghurt in pasta, which he explains is common practice all over the Middle East. Here he pairs it with sweet peas, salty feta and bright, peppery basil. It’s predictably delicious and requires minimal time at the hot stove, so great for February suppers.

Summer Pea Pasta  

Put the yogurt, 6 tablespoons of the olive oil, the garlic, and 2/3 cup of the peas in a food processor. Blitz to a uniform pale green sauce and transfer to a large mixing bowl.

Cook the pasta in plenty of salted boiling water until al dente. As the pasta cooks, heat the remaining olive oil in a small frying pan over medium heat. Add the pine nuts and chilli flakes and fry gently for 4 minutes, until the nuts are golden and the oil is red (keep a close eye as they go from golden to burnt very quickly!), pour into a small bowl immediately to stop them cooking. Also, heat the remaining peas in some boiling water, then drain.

Drain the cooked pasta into a colander, shake well to get rid of the water, and add the pasta gradually to the yogurt sauce; adding it all at once may cause the yogurt to split. Add the warm peas, basil, feta, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon white pepper. Toss gently, transfer to individual bowls, and spoon over the pine nuts and their oil. Delish!