It’s taken me years to overcome my childhood phobia of peas. Especially frozen peas. And while I’ve created some recipes over the years using the humble pea, I’ve always felt a little funny about them.
Even though other people have been excited about my pea recipes, I’ve really struggled. Until now.
Honestly I could happily eat this pea and pesto ‘mash’ by the spoonful. On it’s own.
It’s that good.
Even my green-food-phobic boys gobbled theirs up (all be it with some cohersion to try it in the first place).
We loved this meal on a Summers night when I didn’t feel like heating up the kitchen.
I simmered the sausages in the morning when it was still cool. Then at dinner I just browned them on the BBQ. Covered the peas in boiling water, drained and pureed with some pesto and dinner was ready. Hey presto! (sorry, I couldn’t resist)
Summer Sausages with Pea & Pesto Mash
Ingredients
- 4 sausages
- 250 g frozen peas
- 6 tablespoons pesto
- 1 handful grated parmesan cheese to serve
- 1 lemon cut into wedges
Instructions
- Place sausages in a medium saucepan. Cover with water and simmer for 10 minutes or until just cooked through. Drain.
- Boil the kettle. Place peas in a heat proof bowl and cover with boiling water. Stand for 60 seconds or until peas are defrosted. Drain and puree peas with the pesto using a stick blender. Or mash with a masher. Leaving them as smooth or chunky as you like. Taste and season with salt or some parmesan as needed.
- Drizzle sausages with a little oil and brown in a frying pan or BBQ on a medium high heat.
- To serve, divide pea puree between two plates. Top with sausages. Grate over some parmesan and pop lemon wedges on the side.
Variations & Substitutions
vegetarian – serve pesto peas with zucchini or chickpea burgers. You could also try halloumi or fried eggs.
different meat – the pesto peas are also great with chicken, lamb or fish. Or even a pork chop!
dairy-free – skip the parmesan and use the dairy-free variation of my pesto. You could also replace the parmesan with grated brazil nuts.
different veg – loving the idea of exploring other vegetable + pesto ‘mashes’. Thinking of trying broccoli and cauliflower next.
carb-lovers – serve with mashed or boiled potatoes as well. Or flat or crusty bread.
more pesto – serve sausages with a dollop of extra pesto on top.
no pesto / nut-free – make an ‘instant pesto’ by pureeing 1 bunch basil leaves, a clove garlic and a few handfuls grated parmsean with the peas. And enough extra virgin olive oil to bring it all together.
Waste Avoidance Strategy
sausages – freeze them.
frozen peas – will last for months in the freezer.
pesto – commercial jars of pesto will keep for months in the pantry. Fresh pesto will keep in the fridge for a few weeks. Cover with olive oil to prevent exposure to air and browning reactions.
parmesan – keeps for longer in a chunk so only grate when you’re cooking. I wrap in waxed paper or baking paper and then keep in an airtight container or a sealed ziplock bag. I prefer this over just wrapping in cling wrap because the air in the container allows the cheese to breathe and not sweat but the container / plastic bag prevents from drying out in the dry fridge air. Either way will keep for months.
lemon – whole lemon will keep wrapped in a plastic bag in the fridge for months.
Prepare Ahead
Sausages can be poached ahead and kept for 1-2 weeks in the fridge or frozen. Pesto pea mash can also be made ahead and ‘fridged’ or frozen. Just allow to come to room temp before using.
Add to my Old Favourite Recipes
I made this with chicken sausages. Very good. What are the lemon wedges for?
decoration Paul! and if you want some extra freshness.
Loved this!!!! I added raw baby kale to the peas before I mashed them =)
BRILLIANT idea to add the kale for some extra green – am totally stealing that idea 🙂
Thanks Melissa!
I didn’t have enough sausages for a meal, but did have frozen peas and pesto so made the mash, and because that wasn’t particularly labour-intensive, and I had some zucchini and eggs, I made a Baked Zucchini Frittata to have with it. Good, and more filling than I expected.
ooh nice ‘smash-up’ Mark 🙂