pea and ricotta polpette with mint and pistachio pesto

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Polpette translates from Italian as “meatballs”, which usually served with pasta and a rich tomato sauce. This is my vegetarian version, light and fresh tasting. These polpettes incorporate both fresh peas and powdered green split pea to give an intensified pea flavour and they work beautifully with the pistachio and mint pesto.

Ingredients

200 g fresh peas (shelled weight), or use frozen, defrosted
100 g ricotta cheese
100 g green split peas, ground to a fine powder
30 g cornflour
2 spring onions, finely chopped
zest and juice of a lemon
30 g vegetarian Parmesan cheese, finely grated
1 green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
10 g fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
1 free range egg yolk
½ tsp sea salt
groundnut oil, for deep frying

For the pesto:
25 g fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped
40 g vegetarian Parmesan cheese
150 ml olive oil, plus 2 tbsp for cooking
20 g pistachio kernels
juice of half a lemon
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

To serve:
spaghetti

Instructions

View the full recipe at The Circus Gardener’s Kitchen →