As a general rule, I try to limit buying food in jars mostly because they’re generally packed with sugar, salt and other preservatives, but also because there’s often an easy and much tastier ‘do-it-yourself’ version. If there’s one thing I always seem to have in my freezer, it’s a pack of peas. And my herb garden is rarely awesome, but I always seem to have mint. I was chatting with my friend, Jo, last week and she confessed to not loving cooking, so much so that the night before for dinner she had ‘a bowl of peas’. And I think there was also some talk of tomato sauce…

It reminded me of this recipe, which is great in any situation which calls for minty peas like lamb, but I love this the best with a simple piece of crispy skin barramundi. I also make a much bigger bowl than I need as I love just eating them straight from the bowl over the next couple of days. No tomato sauce or any other preservative-intense condiments required.

ingredients 

  • 1 packet frozen peas
  • a small bunch of fresh mint – ripped up
  • salt & pepper
  • really good-quality extra virgin olive oil (you’re gonna be able to taste the oil so it has to be a good one)
  • a couple of generous lugs of red wine vinegar

method

  1. Put the kettle on to boil.
  2. Pour the frozen peas straight into an empty saucepan.
  3. Put the mint on top of the peas, then pour boiling water over to cover the peas and mint.
  4. Put the pan on a high heat with a lid on. Bring to the boil then turn off the heat and drain immediately. (This will ensure the peas are ‘just’ cooked, which is how I like them. If you like your peas a bit more ‘mushy’ just boil them from a few minutes.)
  5. Put the peas into the dish you’re going to serve them in & season to your liking.
  6. Cover the peas and mint with the olive oil and add a couple of good lugs of red wine vinegar and stir.
  7. Leave the dish aside for half an hour or so and serve at room temperature.

Any left overs will keep well in the fridge for a few days (because of the oil & vinegar). Eat the rest straight out of the bowl with a spoon – bet your can’t without the minty green vinegary oil dribbling down your chin 🙂