Secret Peas
October 1, 2015 7:00 AM   Subscribe

I'm the cook in my house, and for the most part my husband happily eats whatever I put in front of him. Last night, though, he gave me an impassioned speech about how much he hates peas, and I guess since I'm a good wife I will stop making him eat them. However, we have three and a half pounds of peas in the freezer right now.

He's fine when they're pureed and disguised, as in this (wonderful) recipe from Ottolenghi's Jerusalem cookbook. Do you have similar recipes, or can you think of similar ideas, so I can use up the rest of these peas? I know, it's like a $6 investment and I could easily throw them out (or just make that one recipe seven times), but I feel up for a challenge.
posted by something something to Food & Drink (31 answers total) 22 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: I recently made a bunch of pea and mint sorbet that went down well. You can mush the peas up really well, or you can serve it with bit of frozen pea shell - your choice!
posted by The River Ivel at 7:06 AM on October 1, 2015 [1 favorite]


so I can use up the rest of these peas?

As a person who likes peas I often will just eat a bowl of peas with some butter and salt. Like, a whole big bowl of peas. Add a nice piece of crusty bread and some goat cheese and hello, dinner.

If you are a person who likes peas, you can solve the "too many peas" problem and the "husband won't eat peas" problem pretty easily on your own.


There is also the guacafauxle recipe that got some ground a while back and you can also blend them up in a pesto type sauce without throwing things off too much as well.
posted by phunniemee at 7:08 AM on October 1, 2015 [14 favorites]


British mushy peas? It's basically mashed potatoes, but with peas and (sometimes) mint instead of potatoes. If that much butter and cream won't get him nesting peas, nothing will.
posted by Itaxpica at 7:16 AM on October 1, 2015


When I was growing up my mother would puree them, probably ~1 cup?, with a little water and stir them into risotto near the end of the cooking, with bacon and lemon zest and butter. Nom.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 7:19 AM on October 1, 2015 [5 favorites]


Best answer: This is one of my favorite things to do with peas.
posted by clavicle at 7:23 AM on October 1, 2015 [3 favorites]


Best answer: Have you considered roasting them, as with chickpeas? Toss them in some olive oil, salt, cumin, and and pepper (or chile powder), and roast them on a baking sheet until they're crispy.

You could muck around with different seasoning combinations - try sesame oil in place of olive oil with white pepper and chile powder.

They can be a.) a snack that keeps well for a few days and b.) makes a nice crunchy addition to a salad.

If it's a texture thing for him, this would totally change the experience. From mushy mushy to crunchy crunchy.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 7:23 AM on October 1, 2015 [3 favorites]


They aren't secret but a common dinner in our house is bow tie pasta tossed with olive oil, minced garlic and grated cheese. To that base mixture you can mix in all sorts of things. Common extras is sauteed mushrooms, sausage, asparagus and yes peas. A quick cooking technique is to throw the frozen peas into the boiling pasta water for the last 1-2 minutes of cooking time. The pea flavor isn't super pronounced but it adds nice color and texture.
posted by mmascolino at 7:25 AM on October 1, 2015 [1 favorite]


(british mushy peas are normally made with a different kind of pea (marrowfat), at least the ones we have) (in yorkshire) (lass).

google shows lots of pea and spinach soup recipes, but i haven't tried any.
posted by andrewcooke at 7:28 AM on October 1, 2015 [2 favorites]


Pea pesto could be a good way - I've never had it, but there are lots of recipes on the internet.
posted by umwhat at 7:28 AM on October 1, 2015


Pea soup!
posted by amro at 7:31 AM on October 1, 2015 [1 favorite]


So, does he hate repetition in meals? Why don't you just make the recipe you mentioned that he likes every few weeks or so until the peas are gone?

(I inflict the same meals on my family constantly. But maybe I am an outlier?)
posted by gaspode at 7:35 AM on October 1, 2015


If either one of you are 'Orange Is the New Black' fans, you could try making Chang's Frito pea fritters.
posted by Fig at 7:38 AM on October 1, 2015 [1 favorite]


Wasabi peas? I also hate peas, but I love these (because of course you can't taste the peas under the wasabi).
posted by fifthpocket at 7:47 AM on October 1, 2015 [1 favorite]


Mattar Paneer: if you don't have anywhere to buy the paneer cheese nearby, it's very easily made from whole milk. Which can be fun, if you've never made cheese before.
posted by XMLicious at 7:48 AM on October 1, 2015 [1 favorite]


You can make mukimo, which is Kenyan mashed potatoes and peas and DELICIOUS. You can substitute spinach for pumpkin leaves.
posted by ChuraChura at 7:49 AM on October 1, 2015 [1 favorite]


In addition to Matar Paneer, you can try Aloo Gobi Matar.
posted by gudrun at 7:59 AM on October 1, 2015


Pea pesto delicious tossed through pasta or on a crostini.
posted by wwax at 8:01 AM on October 1, 2015 [2 favorites]


(british mushy peas are normally made with a different kind of pea (marrowfat), at least the ones we have) (in yorkshire) (lass).


This is true, but I routinely make them with frozen non-marrowfat peas and they taste great. The difference between marrowfat and regular peas is pretty minimal once you rehydrate the marrowfats, anyway.
posted by Itaxpica at 8:08 AM on October 1, 2015 [1 favorite]


Pea burger?
posted by Gordafarin at 8:09 AM on October 1, 2015


(I should say that what you really taste is the mashed potatoes, the peas are mostly there to turn the mashed potatoes green)
posted by ChuraChura at 8:10 AM on October 1, 2015


I love traditional pea soup, but can understand people who don't, especially if they don't like peas.

But this Barefoot Contessa pea soup recipe should appeal even to the pea skeptic: basically a chicken and onion base with pureed fresh or frozen peas. (If you prefer, no need to add the ham; it's plenty flavorful without it.)
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 8:46 AM on October 1, 2015


fried rice. risotto. with a nice pasta dish (rose sauce + peas = delicious).
posted by SassHat at 9:05 AM on October 1, 2015 [1 favorite]


Best answer: > I love traditional pea soup, but can understand people who don't, especially if they don't like peas.

I love traditional pea soup, even though I'm not crazy about peas; have you checked to make sure his antipathy extends to the soup?
posted by languagehat at 9:15 AM on October 1, 2015


Best answer: I would take a spinach or avocado pesto recipe and swap out a portion of the spinach for peas.

A spinach pesto
An avocado pesto
posted by tofu_crouton at 9:36 AM on October 1, 2015


The only way I know how to make my teenage daughter eat peas is to put them into fried rice.

Granted, I use bagged frozen peas and carrots, but she has never said anything about "yuck, peas" the 300 times she has wolfed down fried rice for dinner.
posted by kuanes at 9:46 AM on October 1, 2015 [2 favorites]


Best answer: My husband, just now: "what you are you doing?"; Me: "looking at recipes for peas."; Him: "Why?" Me: "This poster's husband just declared his passionate hate for peas, but they have 3 pounds of peas in the freezer, and she's looking for recipes with "secret peas."; Him: "Tell her about our recipe." Me: "Those peas are not secret. They're more like PEAcocks." Him: "Tell her anyway."

So, here's what I suggest: Try this just for you, and let him have a taste, just in case. I was never a fan of peas at all, until I moved to Greece and tasted them the Greek way, as Arakas Kokinistos (peas with tomato and dill), which I loooove.

This is basically the way we make ours. (site takes a bit to load) We don't bother thawing the peas, and sometimes if we have real chicken broth on hand, we will use that instead of water. We also cook ours a bit longer, at least an hour, and it's a less runny than the image on the site. Some people add carrots and/or potatoes. Sometimes we add garlic.

We always have it with feta on the side. This is great alone, but one of my absolute favorite meals is fried fish and arakas. I also love them served over a rusk or melba toast, with a sunny side up egg on top for breakfast or lunch. However we serve it, there is never, ever any left uneaten, because it's even better the next day. yum.

Something way more secret-y: Confetti Couscous. There are a million recipes for this, but I make mine with chopped up carrots, zucchini, red pepper, thawed frozen peas, chopped almonds, raisins, a little chopped green onion, some olive oil and a bit of orange juice, all mixed up with the cooked couscous. It's beautiful and cheerful and delicious.
posted by taz at 10:16 AM on October 1, 2015 [9 favorites]


You can't go wrong with this Ottolenghi recipe (adapted from his fabulous cookbook Jerusalem) for pasta with pea pesto and yogurt sauce. He calls for you to reserve 1/3 of your peas to be combined whole with the pasta, but obviously you can skip that step.
posted by telegraph at 10:17 AM on October 1, 2015 [1 favorite]


Pea hummus or a pureed pea soup. If they're young spring peas, add mint and a little creme fraiche or sour cream to said pea soup. Maybe serve chilled?

Dammit now I wish I had 3 pounds of peas in my freezer.
posted by Sara C. at 10:43 AM on October 1, 2015


What languagehat said: I too hated peas as a kid but loved split pea soup, especially with bits of ham or bacon. Fresh peas make a soup that is greener and a little sweeter than dried split peas, but still excellent.

(Also, if you are being a Good Wife by catering to his pea aversion, he should meet you halfway by being a Good Husband and helping you eat these peas without complaint till they are gone.)
posted by Pallas Athena at 3:13 PM on October 1, 2015 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Honestly, he is normally so terrific about eating whatever I make that I really feel like I need to pay attention to this plea. It must be serious!

Thanks for all the ideas - I'm going to try a couple of the disguisey ideas but I'm also making those Greek peas alllll for myself!
posted by something something at 6:46 AM on October 2, 2015 [1 favorite]


Listen to taz, taz speaks the truth. Also use more dill than you think you need. And lots of fresh pepper. And feta. Man I think I have some peas in the freezer.
posted by Dr Dracator at 11:45 AM on October 2, 2015


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