Fresh Pea Pesto & Eggs on Toast
Fresh Pea Pesto & Poached Egg on Toast
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By Renee S.
For me, pesto has always been one of those dishes that I adjust depending on what I have in my fridge and pantry. There was a time in my life (i.e. early 20’s, freshly moved out of my parents’ house and was forced to learn how to cook for myself) where I’d run out to the store for one ingredient I was lacking while following a recipe. That’s a rarity now. Of course it’s understandable for certain dishes, though pesto is relatively flexible.
When stocking my pantry, I avoid buying items that I don’t use on a frequent basis, and even though a more traditional pesto recipe calls for pine nuts, I prefer pepitas or sun flower seeds because both are more versatile and affordable. To add more of a depth of flavor and complexity to your pesto, you can roast the pepitas or sun flower seeds ahead of time. That’s a great tip I’ve learned from many years of cooking on a budget and finding ways to enhance flavors without breaking the bank.
A few notes:
On garlic: Rather than using a knife to chop your garlic, I highly recommend grating it with a microplane to open up the flavor and aroma of the garlic in a more intense way.
On fennel fronds: If you skip out on the fennel fronds, you’ll be losing an important flavor profile that makes this pesto what it is. The fronds have a distinct yet subtle licorice-y taste, and I can’t say that I would stand behind this recipe without it. If you’re into ramps for spring, I’m sharing a link to my ramp pesto below as an alternative. If you buy a whole fennel and not sure what to do with the bulb, I can suggest a few recipes from past newsletters, like this fennel & apple salad or this wild mushroom & fennel flatbread.
Yields: approx 8 oz pesto
Do ahead
Roast your pepitas: Toss 1/4 cup of pepitas with 1/4 tsp of olive oil, add a pinch of salt and bake at 350°F for 12-15 minutes—until lightly browned.)
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups basil
1/2 cup peas (preferably fresh sugar snap peas or snow peas, but frozen peas work great, too)
1/4 cup fennel fronds
1/3 cup pecorino or parmesan cheese
2 garlic cloves, finely grated (with a microplane)
1/3 cup good quality olive oil
3 tablespoons roasted pepitas (or other nuts/seeds of choice—i.e. pine nuts, sunflower seeds, almonds, walnuts, cashews, you name it.)
1 lemon, zest & juice
1/4 tsp salt (plus more to taste)
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
For toast assembly:
1-2 thick cut pieces of sourdough (or bread of choice)
olive oil
1 egg (poached, jammy egg, or whatever style of eggs you like)
Directions:
To make pesto:
Combine all pesto ingredients with a hand blender or food processor. Taste, and add more salt or pepper if needed.
*Feel free to double the ingredients to make a larger batch.
Assembly
Toast a thick-cut piece of sourdough bread. Spread a generous amount of pesto on top, then add a poached egg (or your preferred egg of choice) on top. Drizzle with olive oil, and add a pinch of salt & pepper.
Enjoy!
Photography, Food Styling, and Recipe Development by Renee Sandoval
