Gaby’s Pasta with Peas and Pesto
This easy pasta recipe features peas and pesto. It's made with basic ingredients (frozen peas and store-bought pesto) and tastes amazing!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 30, 2024
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Bookmark this simple pasta dish with peas and pesto! It is perfect for busy weeknights and you’ll be glad to have it. I’m so glad to have found this recipe in Gaby Dalkin’s latest book, Take It Easy. She sent me the book when it came out last fall and this recipe has saved us from ordering take-out several nights since then.
This pasta with peas and pesto comes together in under 30 minutes with basic ingredients and minimal fuss. It’s designed for frozen peas and it’s great with store-bought pesto. I can make this recipe with a toddler running around the kitchen, which really says something, if you know what I mean. Grace enjoyed the leftovers for lunch today.
I love how this recipe comes together with just one pot and one bowl. To make it, you’ll bring a large pot of salted water to boil for the noodles. In the meantime, you can quickly defrost frozen peas in a colander by running cool water over them in the sink.
The peas taste so fresh and nice because they are not cooked. Gaby simply instructs us to whisk together a sauce of olive oil, lemon, garlic and Pecorino Romano cheese. Then we mash up about half of the peas into the sauce, leaving the rest whole. Add the warm pasta to temper the garlic, stir in some pesto, and your dinner is almost ready to go. Thank you for this one, Gaby!
A Few Recipe Tips and Notes
You’ll find the full recipe below and it’s gloriously simple. Here are a few tips that might come in helpful:
Many pasta shapes will work. Ideally, choose a shorter pasta noodle with little nooks and crannies that can catch the peas. Options include reginetti or mafaldine (shown), fusilli, farfalle or papillon, shells, trumpets, or orecchiette. Whole wheat noodles and sturdy gluten-free noodles work well in this recipe. I used whole grain reginetti by Sfoglini, which I purchase at Whole Foods.
This recipe is designed for frozen peas. Once defrosted, they are already tender and mash easily. Defrost the frozen peas in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight, or simply place them in a colander and run cool water over them for 3 to 6 minutes. Gaby’s original recipe specified two cups of frozen peas (one 10-ounce bag), but if you love to maximize your vegetable intake like I do, you can use up to three cups (one 16-ounce bag).
Store-bought pesto is fine, or make your own pesto if you have the time. You’ll need up to 1/2 cup for this recipe. I like the Artisola organic refrigerated brand.
This recipe yields a lot (six generous servings). Bring the extra to your friends or cut the recipe in half, if desired. It keeps well in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
To make this dish more substantial, add a few dollops of ricotta to individual serving bowls or top them with fried eggs. You’ll find salad and side dish suggestions below.
Watch How to Make Pasta with Peas
What to Serve with this Pea Pasta
- Colorful Roasted Vegetables: Roast these vibrant vegetables while you cook your pasta. The more veggies, the better!
- Easy Tomato Salad: This tomato salad is simple to prepare and will liven up your plate of green pasta.
- Italian Dressing or Classic Vinaigrette: Improvise a green salad with either of these oil-based dressings.
- Super Simple Arugula Salad: Or make my go-to arugula salad, which is truly so simple that it’s ready in under two minutes.
More Fresh Green Pasta Dishes
If you love this simple pasta dish, try one of these next:
- Cilantro-Pepita Pesto with Squash Ribbons and Fettuccine
- Green Goddess Tortellini Salad
- Lemony Green Pasta with Peas and Ricotta
- Pesto Pasta Salad
- Summertime Pasta Salad with Tomatoes, Corn and Jalapeño Pesto
Please let me know how your recipe turns out in the comments! I love hearing from you.
Pasta with Peas and Pesto
This easy pasta recipe features peas and pesto. It’s made with basic ingredients (frozen peas and store-bought pesto) and tastes fantastic! Keep this recipe in your back pocket for busy weeknights. Recipes serves 6.
Ingredients
- 4 cloves garlic, pressed or finely chopped
- ⅓ cup (1 ounce) finely grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish
- ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 lemons, 1 juiced and 1 thinly sliced into rounds
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 10 to 16 ounces (2 to 3 cups) frozen peas, completely thawed*
- 16 ounces short-cut pasta**
- ⅓ cup to ½ cup pesto, homemade or jarred
- Fresh basil leaves, for garnish
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the garlic, cheese, oil, lemon juice, red pepper flakes (if using), a couple pinches of salt, and plenty of black pepper.
- Add the thawed peas and stir to combine. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper as needed. Use the back of a fork to roughly mash just half of the peas, and leave the other half whole.
- Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook the pasta according to the package instructions. Drain and toss the pasta with the smashed peas and a few large spoonfuls of pesto. Taste, and add more salt and pepper if necessary.
- Top with the basil, lemon slices, and a light grating of cheese before serving.
Notes
Recipe lightly adapted from Take It Easy by Gaby Dalkin.
*How to thaw frozen peas: Defrost the frozen peas in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight, or simply place them in a colander and run cool water over them for 3 to 6 minutes.
**Pasta suggestions: Ideally, choose a shorter pasta noodle that has little nooks and crannies that can catch the peas. Options include reginetti (shown), mafaldine, fusilli, farfalle or papillon, shells, trumpets, or orecchiette.
Change it up: Dollops of ricotta cheese are a nice addition. This recipe is easily halved.
Make it gluten free: Substitute your favorite sturdy gluten-free noodle.
Make it vegan: Substitute vegan pesto (or make your own with this recipe but omit the cheese), omit the cheese and top with a generous sprinkle of my Vegan Parmesan Cheese.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
I have made this dish and it’s delicious. I also love to add in a little ricotta. FYI ricotta makes a wonderful “cheesecake” like dessert! I add almond or coconut extract, chipped nuts and a drizzle of honey. So good!
Awesome! Thank you for letting me know. Your ricotta concoction sounds great, I’ll give that a try soon!
Wow!!! This recipe is another winner! I swear you and I share the same taste buds! Please don’t ever stop putting out new recipes. I’m vegan so I used the minimalist bakers pesto recipe for this and subbed nooch for the cheese. Perfection! My whole family LOVED it!
That makes me smile, thanks Amanda! Have a great day.
I made this tonight as part of a special dinner for my mom and it turned out amazing! Fresh, bright, and I had all the ingredients on hand (yay!) I only had cilantro pesto on hand but added lots of fresh basil and it was sooooooo good! Thank you so much for another great dish to add to my rotation!
Thanks, Kelly! Happy to hear it!
Hi, I regularly do this iteam it tastes very good.Thanks for your efforts
Made this this week and it is SO good! I followed your homemade pesto recipe and used basil from my own garden. I also used a gluten-free pasta. 4 days later I’m still eating it and loving it!
So glad to hear it! Thank you, Anna, for reporting back! You can’t beat fresh homemade, homegrown pesto!
This was such a delicious dish! Thank you for your amazing recipes. Will definitely be a keeper on our rotation.
Awesome! Thank you for taking the time to report back, Lavanya!
Kate!!! How delicious!!! I made your pesto with my basil that I grow, it just rocks!!! I added some purple onion and mushrooms but other than that I made it as you wrote. Thank you for all your fantastic recipes.
Your version sounds extra colorful and delicious! Thank you for your comment, Catherine!
Wonderful summer dish! Used fresh store bought pesto and added some roasted garlic. Thank you so much for sharing! Loving your recipes!
You’re welcome, Emily! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
I made this and it was so easy and delicious! I added a bit of feta and a handful of chopped walnuts. Thank you!
This was very delicious! It was better than I expected!
I will definitely be making this regularly!
That’s great to hear, Julie! Thank you for your review.
This is by far my favorite speedy dinner. I swear, if I could eat this every day (and not gain weight from all the pasta, LOL) I would. So fresh, so bright, so so easy. Thanks so much for sharing!
You’re welcome, Dania!
Easy and delicious. The only thing I had trouble with was mashing the peas with a fork. Even though I had just purchased them, I think my peas were a little tough – next time, I’ll try steaming them for a minute or two, them maybe whiz some of the peas with my immersion blender. I bet this would be wonderful with fresh peas!
I feel you could easily adapt this recipe by swapping out other things for the peas – carrots, cherry tomatoes, Asian greens, broccoli, chickpeas, sweet potato, squash, etc
Thank you for your review, Violet!
I have made this a couple of times now and it’s so delicious! It’s easy to make and a great meatless Monday option for us. I always have some pesto in my freezer that I make using your recipe. I want to try some ricotta next time. That sounds like a great addition!
That’s great to hear, Kamie! Thank you for your review.
I needed a quick vegetarian meal and this was delicious and satisfying! My kids loved it and so did I! I wanted more veggies, so added a few asparagus stalks thinly sliced… an easy addition to an already perfect recipe!
I’ve done this with and without the pesto and use tinned peas instead of frozen usually on a linguini and it just always works. Great recipe, easy to modify!