Snap Peas with Pecorino, Lemon, and Black Pepper
It’s been a pretty wet spring here in New Jersey. I think we have had somewhere north of 1000” inches of rain and it’s supposed to rain again tomorrow. All of this makes for an incredibly green landscape, teeming with fresh newness. It also makes for a lawn you need to mow every other day. This dish of snap peas with pecorino evokes all of that newness in a simple uncooked plate that will take you ten minutes to throw together. It plays on the traditional Italian flavors of fava beans and pecorino cheese, but saves you the 90 minutes of peeling fresh fava beans by hand to get enough for two people to eat.
Growing up, we always had this ceramic jar of grated Locatelli Romano cheese in our fridge. It was almost impossible to get the stuff in Richmond, VA in the 80s, so my dad would buy huge blocks of it when he would be in New Jersey visiting family, or even in Washington, DC for a work trip. Later, he would order it online six pounds at a time. I imagine that would last him over a year. Because of all of this Locatelli Romano we had lying around, the flavor of the stuff is really imprinted on me. I have since discovered that there is a whole world of great sheep’s milk cheese out there. (Pecorino is the name given to all Italian cheeses made from sheep’s milk).
Pair this dish with couscous with grilled asparagus and herbs, or a grilled pizza for a fantastic warm weather meal.
Split Snow Pea
Sam Kaestner
serves 4
15 minPrep Time
15 minTotal Time
Save RecipeINGREDIENTS
- 1 lb snap peas
- Zest of ½ a lemon
- Juice of ½ lemon
- 2 tbsp good extra virgin olive oil (don’t skimp here)
- 1 oz or so pecorino romano cheese
- Flaky salt to taste
- Very coarsely ground black pepper to taste
METHOD
- Cut the snap peas lengthwise into two or three pieces each. If you find any tough ones, either toss them, or set them aside for a recipe that calls for cooking the peas. Once everything is cut, put the snap peas into a medium bowl.
- Add the lemon zest and juice, and olive oil. Toss the snap peas with your fingers to coat everything nicely. Transfer the peas to a serving bowl. Sprinkle with salt to taste and add pepper to taste. (A side note: I wanted the pepper extra coarse for this, so my 6 year old Silvia had a blast helping me grind the pepper in a mortar and pestle). Shave pecorino on top of the dish. Use as much as you like, but don’t over do it. Pecorino is strong stuff, and can overpower the peas if you go nuts with it. That’s it!
Notes
You could easily use this same method with java beans, or even fresh peas, though I would blanch those for about 30 seconds in boiling water, unless they are super fresh.
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