Pea pesto is a condiment, a sauce, a flavor enhancer. I spread it on grilled skirt steak marinated in horseradish and on lamb chops. I sauce spaghettini with pea pesto (just boil the pasta in chicken stock and toss in the pea pesto and garnish with toasted breadcrumbs) and I dress cold roast chicken with pea pesto and homemade yogurt. I broil or grill seafood skewers and serve them on a pillow of pea pesto; I sauté scallops or swordfish in the pan with pea pesto; and serve poached eggs on an English muffin spread with pea pesto. For extra zing, you can add a tablespoon of horseradish to every cup of peas.

　　

Ingredients

Makes 3 cups

　　2 cups chicken stock

　　4 cups shelled fresh peas (about 4 pounds in the pod)

　　1 to 2 tablespoons chopped garlic

　　1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

　　Salt and freshly ground black pepper

　　

Step 1

In a large saucepan, bring the chicken stock to a boil over medium heat. Add the peas, reduce the heat, and boil the peas gently until tender, about 10 minutes for large peas (smaller ones cook more quickly). Drain and reserve the stock.

　　

Step 2

Place the peas in a food processor with 1 cup of the reserved stock, 1 tablespoon garlic, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Process to a smooth puree. At this point taste the cream and adapt it to your taste. If you'd like more lemon juice, add it. Missing that garlic heat? Add it. Not creamy (which can happen if the peas are not cooked quite enough or if they are starchy)? Add more stock.

　　

Step 3

Place the puree in one-cup containers or half-pint freezer jars leaving 1 inch of headroom and freeze.

　　Reprinted from The Kitchen Ecosystem, by Eugenia Bone, Copyright © 2014, published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers.Eugenia Bone is the author Mycophilia and the James Beard-nominated Well-Preserved. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Saveur, Food & Wine, Gourmet, New York, and Harper's Bazaar, among many other publications. Bone, her architect husband, and their children split their time between New York and Colorado.