Pea & Chicken Pasta

Over the past week the peas in our have garden ripened & we got a bag of them from our CSA.

I love these sugary peas of summer that are so good we eat them right off the vine but I wanted to do something a little different than just throwing them in a salad or stir-fry. I found this recipe for Pea Pasta on Epicurious which sounded like just the thing. This dish was really fresh & light plus a lovely summer green. I doubled the garlic for extra zing & added some cooked chicken to make it a little more hardy of a single dish meal.


Pea & Chicken Pasta
(adapted from Gourmet April '05)

1/2 lb sugar snap peas, trimmed with strings discarded (I did a mix of sugar snap & Chinese pea pods)
1/2 lb penne pasta
1 clove of garlic
1/4 t salt
2 T olive oil
1/4 c grated Parmesan
1 cooked chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the peas to the water. After 2 minutes remove 1/2 c of the peas, run cold water over them to stop the cooking & set them aside.
Let the remaining peas cook until tender, about 2 more minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove the remaining peas from the water. Measure out 1/2 c of the cooking water & set aside.
Bring the water back up to a boil & cook the pasta according to the directions.
While the pasta is cooking, put the second set of peas in a food processor. Peel the garlic clove & mash it to a paste with the salt. Add the mashed garlic, olive oil, Parmesan & 1/4 c of the cooking water to the food processor with the peas. Process until smooth.
Cut the 1/2 c of peas you set aside into 1/2-inch pieces.
When the pasta is done, drain it & return it to the pot. Mix in the puréed peas, the cut peas & the chopped chicken. Add more reserved cooking water if needed.

Makes 2 servings