This Week’s Harvest, 6/2; Pasta with Peas and Fried Eggs, Macerated Strawberries with Chocolate Financier

For those of you who are following the saga, the internet problems continue.  This afternoon I caused a bit of a scene in the internet providers’ store, which culminated in me shouting that I wanted my account closed and that I would never come back.  Fortunately, my most excellent friend Melissa offered to cook me dinner and let me use her WiFi tonight – how could I say no?  In the interest of being a good guest, I’m going to keep this brief.

This week I was delighted to receive fresh peas in the panier.  They were each about two inches long, and packed full of sweet peas.  I spent over an hour shelling them, which produced a huge bowl of peas and a mountain of pea pods.  I mixed the peas with some pasta and fried strips of ham and topped it with a couple of fried eggs.  It made a fantastic quick (well, except for the pea-shelling) dinner.

I didn’t want to throw away the pea pods, because they just smelled so fresh and tasty.  I plotted to make a pesto out of them, which ended up with great flavor but a very disappointingly stringy texture.  I’m thinking maybe if I blanched the pods first, or if I’d strained the pesto, it would have been better.  So for now, I don’t recommend trying that one at home.

The potatoes got sliced, boiled, and served atop beds of lettuce with slices of spicy radishes, green onions, and lots of herbed feta cheese.

And for the strawberries, a simple sprinkling of sugar was all they needed.  (Macerate: letting fruit sit in sugar and sometimes alcohol until it releases its own juice to make a delectable sauce.)  Oh, I served them next to a simple Chocolate-Hazelnut financier cake (stay tuned to Croque-Camille for a recipe coming soon), but that was really just gravy.

Originally published on Seasonal Market Menus.

Advertisement