Description
This dish is a base of orzo and peas, tossed in a brilliant creamy green sauce that heavily leans on spring greens like arugula, parsley, and basil for flavor, with just a few supporting ingredients like olive oil and lemon to help the herbs shine through even more.
Ingredients
Scale
Pasta & Peas
- 1 cup (150 g) english peas
- 2 cups (12 oz or 340 g) orzo
- 2–3 tbsp butter/olive oil
- Parmesan for garnish
- Toasted pine nuts for topping
Herby Arugula Sauce
- 3 cups ( 2 oz or 57 g) arugula
- 2 cups(4 oz or 54 g) basil
- 1 cup (1 oz or 28 g) parsley
- 1/3 cup (56 g) olive oil
- 1/3 cup (72 g) milk
- 1/3 cup (60 g) pasta water, plus more as needed
- 1 tbsp (10 g) lemon juice
- 1 lemons worth of zest
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 tsp kosher salt
Instructions
- Blanch the peas. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, then dump in the peas and blanch for 1 minute. Remove from the boiling water with a spider/small sieve and dump into a bowl.
- Cook the orzo. Add the orzo into the pot, season with kosher salt (about 1 tbsp), and cook according to package instructions or until al dente. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water, then drain the orzo and return back to the pot. Stir in the butter or olive oil and set aside.
- Make the sauce. To a blender, add all of the sauce ingredients and blend on low, slowly ramping the speed up to high. Blend for 3-4 minutes until the sauce is smooth and creamy.
- Finish and serve. Dump the sauce into the orzo and stir together. Adjust salt as needed (this pasta eats up salt, so if it feels like it’s missing something, add more salt). Serve the orzo with a sprinkle of parmesan and toasted pine nuts.