Easy to make Green Pea pesto smeared on the bread and grilled into a panini…
I seldom make veggie panini, it gotta have some meat stuffed into it and that makes my man happy. Last weekend, while browsing I stumbled upon the recipe for making pea pesto. I love basil pesto, so I was tempted to try pea pesto. I always have frozen peas and had other ingredients for making the pesto. In just a matter of minutes, pea pesto was ready. I had whole wheat bread too, so thought I should spread the pea pesto on the bread and make them into a panini.
I did spread some butter on the outside of the bread before grilling, that kind of made the bread taste even more delicious. This panini tasted so good that I ended up making a lot and served for dinner as well.
This panini can be served as an evening snack or for lunch/dinner.
Preparation pictures
Cooking peas
Making pea pesto
Spread pea pesto on the bread and top with cooked peas
Making pea pesto panini
Recipe adapted from here
- Peas, frozen- 1½ cups
- Olive oil- 1 tbsp
- Shallots, chopped- 1 or use 3 small onions
- Garlic, chopped- 1
- Fresh basil leaves loosely packed- ½ cup
- Cilantro, chopped- ¼ cup
- Olive oil- 2 tbsp
- Lemon juice- ½ tbsp
- Parmesan cheese- ¼ cup
- Salt- to taste
- Ground pepper- ⅛ tsp
- Whole wheat or White bread
- Butter, unsalted
- Place a non-stick pan over medium heat, add oil.
- Add shallots or small onions and garlic, saute till translucent.
- Add peas and cook for 2 minutes till they are cooked through. Do not over cook the peas.
- Remove the pan from the heat and let cool down.
- Into a food processor: add basil, cilantro, olive oil, lemon juice, parmesan cheese, salt, ground pepper and half of the cooked peas. Process these until coarsely smooth. Taste and add more salt if needed.
- Transfer the pea pesto into a bowl. Keep aside.
- Spread 1 to 2 tbsps of the prepared pea pesto on the bread slice, top with 1 to 2 tbsps of cooked peas and close with another bread slice.
- Spread some butter on the outside of the bread slice and grill the sandwich in a panini maker till it turns golden brown in color.
- If you don't have a panini maker- you could grill on a non-stick pan: melt butter on the heated pan, place the sandwich on the pan and then place a heavy skillet on the sandwich. When the bottom bread slice has turned golden brown, flip it over and let the other slice turn golden brown too.
- Using a sharp knife, half the panini and serve immediately.
