God I love pesto.  I. freaking. love. pesto.  I forget how much I love it until I make it and then I wonder why I’m not eating pesto every single day of my life.  The inspiration for this dish came from a collab I did with some awesome foodie bloggers called #easypeasyforspring.  Peas just scream SPRING, and this dish was literally yelling at me to get the jorts out.

This recipe is great for three reasons: It can be served at any temperature, it knocks out your veggie and your starch in one dish, and it’s hella good.  I served it as a side dish for our BBQ salmon the other night and the crowd went wild.  It’s super easy to make too…here’s the recipe.

• 2 lbs fingerling potatoes (you don’t have to use multi color but it sure is pretty)
• 1 package of frozen peas, thawed
• 1 bunch fresh parsley
• 1 bunch fresh basil
• 1/2 cup toasted pine nuts (and more for garnish because pine nuts)
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 clove fresh garlic, grated
• 1 lemon

Scrub your potatoes using a fancy overpriced potato scrubber like the one picture here.  Just kidding, this thing sucked at scrubbing potatoes.

Throw the potatoes on a sheet pan with some olive oil and salt, roast at 400°F for 30 minutes.

While the potatoes are roasting you can blanch the peas.  Blanching means you’re going to put them in boiling water for no more than 2 minutes and then transfer them immediately to a bowl of ice water.  This will assure that your peas retain that fresh pea color…

Now it’s time to make the pesto.  You will want to toast your pine nuts because those are the rules.  Just get out a small frying pan and heat the pine nuts on medium low for about 5 minutes while you push them around with a spoon.  As I have said before, this is not the time to go paint your toenails.  They will toast up fast, there’s a fine line between perfectly toasted and absolutely burnt pine nuts.

Combine the parsley, basil, toasted pine nuts, parm, garlic, the juice of half a lemon, and a sprinkle of salt in your food processor.  Turn it on and then drizzle in the olive oil as it spins.  I do not use a ton of olive oil in my pesto because I just don’t.  You can add more if you want.

And PRESTO, it’s PESTO.

Toss your potatoes in the pesto and then add the peas and stir gently until everything is combined.  Garnish with lemon zest, mint leaves, and more toasted pine nuts.

Dear. Lord. In. Heaven.

Yes, it was as good as it looks…and my kids were totally into it too.  Double Whammy!

Happy Spring Everyone!!