Todd’s Minty Peas

When we have families over for dinner, we like to have the usual spread of above-average cheeses — La Tur, Humboldt Fog, Trader Joe’s twisted bi-color cheddar sticks. But the starter that inevitably manages to stop guests mid-bite is a relatively recent discovery: Todd’s Minty Pea Dip. It’s technically a Jamie Oliver recipe, but the first place we ever had it was at our friends Todd & Anne’s house and have not been able to refer to it as anything else since. Todd, a master trawler of farmer’s markets whipped up the dip for us during peak produce months, and I was shocked to discover that it was made from frozen peas. Served with some crusty bread slices, the humble little dip can easily hold its own alongside market behemoths like corn and tomatoes. It also happens to be versatile (we’ve had it as a dip, spread on a sandwich for dinner, mixed with ricotta and sealed inside ravioli) and, unlike corn and tomatoes, can be enjoyed year round.

Todd’s Minty Pea Dip

In a food processor, whirl the following until it is the consistency of guacamole.

-1 cup frozen peas, thawed
-handful fresh mint leaves
-2 tablespoons-ish fresh Parm
-juice from 1/2 lemon
-1/3 cup olive oil
-salt

Garnish with some more shredded Parmesan and a drizzle of olive oil. Serve with baguette slices or spread across a piece of crusty bread.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

What is 14 + 13 ?
Please leave these two fields as-is:
IMPORTANT! To be able to proceed, you need to solve the following simple math (so we know that you are a human) :-)

12 Comments

paula

i love this one. when i’ve served it to company i call it a bruschetta, slather it over little slices of french bread and plate it alongside three other “bruschettas” that i got out of some recipe source that i will never remember. but one is a basic tomato/garlic spread, the other a walnut pesto (walnuts, parmesan, olive oil in a blender), and the fourth a slab of blue cheese drizzled with honey. it’s pretty impressive bc the colors are all so distinct and each one is tastier than the next. not sure how kids will respond to the blue cheese or the walnut pesto — don’t kids hate weird stuff? i don’t know — but it’s a big ROI for a little amount of work. how can you argue with that?

Reply
Trish O

I made this yesterday and it is wonderful. My 5 year old could eat it all day. I did not have any good bread so I used the little Trader Joe toasts and ate away. It is so fresh and spring I am making for a little earth day gift to give to teachers after school. My own start for a food revolution. Thanks for the ideas

Reply
Don

i love this one. when i’ve served it to company i call it a bruschetta, slather it over little slices of french bread and plate it alongside three other “bruschettas” that i got out of some recipe source that i will never remember. but one is a basic tomato/garlic spread, the other a walnut pesto (walnuts, parmesan, olive oil in a blender), and the fourth a slab of blue cheese drizzled with honey. it’s pretty impressive bc the colors are all so distinct and each one is tastier than the next. not sure how kids will respond to the blue cheese or the walnut pesto — don’t kids hate weird stuff? i don’t know — but it’s a big ROI for a little amount of work. how can you argue with that?

Reply
jenny

Don – I think you have inspired me to do an entire dinner based on Bruschetta. How fun would that be??? (For the kids, I’ll have to think of something more fun to call it than “Bruschetta Night,” of course. Maybe “Little Dinner?”) I’m thinking pea dip, bien sur. A basic tomato/garlic type thing like you mentioned above (can you send recipe?) and then maybe ricotta mixed with lemon zest, mint, drizzle of honey or sauteed shredded zucchini w/ mint and ricotta? Something with prosciutto? Hmmm. Send ideas, please. I want to do this this weekend!

Reply
Amy

This was SO easy to throw together and I loved the fresh spring taste. I had high hopes of my 2 year old loving it since peas are her favorite veggie but she refused more after the first bite. I will try it again tonight but tossed with pasta instead of on toast.

Reply
Trish O

try it again with the little ones. i think the mint can be “strange” until they get the hang of the flavor. This dip is my new go-to gift as i put it in old jelly jars with the recepie and a big ol hunk of bread. yummy! This is also great with turkey burgers.

Reply
Talia Cohen

Just wanted to let you know that I love this minty pea dip! I’ve been making it for parties and “just because” for over a year, and realized that instead of only taking recipes from this blog (I’ve used many of your recipes over the last year or so), it would be nice to give back a little and let you know that I think your blog and your recipes are great!

Reply
Awads

Made this for a saturday night dinner party (with the pork ragu!). it was a big hit! i’ve slathered the leftovers on my turkey sandwich, which i’ll be having for lunch today. can’t wait! (my 6 year old turned his nose up, but he went nuts for the chicken leg with apricot preserves that i made last night from DALS. yum!)

Reply
Jess.

This is so, so good! It was in my #DinnerPlaybook, and we all loved it. Can’t wait to make it again and again! Thanks! xox

Reply