Pesto Farfalle with Peas

I made pesto last week. Why do you ask? Well, I had a ton of basil and thought I could make it and freeze it for the winter, so I went ahead and did it. I rarely follow recipes when it comes to something like pesto. I know the basic ingredients, basil, pine nuts, garlic, parmesan, olive oil, and then I usually add some lemon juice and lemon zest, which I did. I think that the lemon freshens the dish and you cannot really taste the actual flavor of the citrus, just the brightness. (Damn, now I am talking like Rachael Ray again with her ridiculous food descriptions. Parsley is verdant, um, well yes, it is a green herb, and therefore it is verdant. Or she could just say, "parsley tastes like parsley.")

With a dash of salt and pepper I must say that my pesto was good enough to eat with a spoon, which I had to do numerous times to make sure it tasted right. I froze the sucker up and didn't think about it. But on Monday night John and I were starving and I really didn't feel like going to the store. This is when the pantry comes in handy. I always have a ton of pasta on hand (he got to choose between whole wheat linguine, spaghetti, farfalle (bowties), rigatoni, and orzo) and I also wanted to add some extra nutrition and texture, so I remembered a bag of frozen peas in the freezer. Frozen peas remind me of being a kid, and I usually have them so I can make my favorite green pea vicchysoisse without running to the market.

The peas went into the boiling water for the last minute with the pasta. I stuck it back in the pan with some of the defrosted pesto and shook a few red pepper flakes on top, as well as a bit of basil chiffonade. A plate of goodness I tell you. The peas were really good. I think that pesto peas could be a side dish all on its own one of these days.