It’s pea season everybody! For just about 2 weeks each year we can go out and find the very best fresh, sweet peas at the local grocery store. Peas don’t love the hot weather, so eat them now before they all end up in the freezer section.

When cooking fresh peas, don’t let them turn to mush! Pour your peas into a small saucepan and add just enough water for them to move around in- you don’t want to cover them with water. Then add some salt, pepper, and a little butter. Cook them until they are no longer hard, but still have a bite left in them, kind of like pasta. You will never want to eat canned or frozen peas again!

ORECCHIETTE WITH SAUSAGE AND PEAS: Serves 3

Ingredients: Half a pound of orecchiette pasta, 1 link of sweet Italian sausage, 1 link of hot Italian sausage, 1 cup of fresh garden or English (same thing) peas, 3 cups of (homemade preferably) marinara sauce, a chunk of parmigiano-reggiano cheese for grating, salt and pepper. 

This recipe is so easy and so satisfying, I hope you all try it. 

Warm up your marinara sauce on very low heat. Meanwhile, remove your sausage from the casings and crumble it up with your fingers. Add your sausage to a small skillet on medium heat and brown slightly, about 5 minutes. Then add the sausage to your marinara. 

Boil a large pot of salted water and add your orecchiette to the pot. Orecchiette takes about 8 minutes to be cooked al dente.

While your pasta cooks, add the fresh peas to the marinara sauce and raise the heat just a little to medium-low. When the pasta is done, drain it and then return it to the pot it cooked in. Add in the marinara with sausage and peas and season with salt and pepper. Serve it onto dinner plates and top it with a generous grating of parmigiano cheese. Add a crusty Italian bread or a garden salad for a perfect weeknight meal.

Easy weeknight dinners is published every Tuesday at noon.

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Jessica Alfreds

Jessica Alfreds is a Chef, Caterer, and Event Planner based in New York City. She is currently working on her first cookbook, teaching herself how to sew, and attempting to live a purposeful life. Jessica is a 3rd generation New Yorker and currently resides in the East Village. Visit jessicaalfreds.com.

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