Looking for a quick fix for tonight’s dinner? This easy pea pesto sauce will be ready in about the time it takes to boil some dried pasta. The key to this dish’s success is using pasta water in the pesto mix. The starch content will add a silky richness to your sauce and the addition of egg and cheese will give it an extra creamy texture, making it simply irresistible.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• half a large onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, halved
• 400 g shelled fresh or frozen green peas
• 8-10 basil leaves
• 1 mint sprig
• 450 g of gemelli or trofie pasta (or any other small shaped pasta)
• 1-2 litres of boiled water
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan and Romano cheese, plus more for serving
• 2 eggs
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Bring a large pot of water to boil, salt the water and cook the pasta until al dente. Set aside a cup of pasta water before draining the pasta.

Beat 2 eggs in a medium bowl and season with freshly grated cheese and black pepper to taste. Set aside.

Heat the olive oil and garlic cloves in a large pan on medium and sauté onions until slightly browned. Add the peas and stir to combine. Cover with some pasta water; let peas cook, stirring occasionally while adding water every time it evaporates.

Midway through cooking the pasta, add basil and mint leaves to the pesto and start blending the peas (with a hand blender directly in the pan or by transferring the peas to a blender). Add boiling water to the mix to obtain desired texture. The pesto should be creamy and not too liquid. Reduce heat to low and quickly toss in the al dente pasta, mixing well until pasta is coated with sauce.

Then, quickly pour in the eggs and cheese and mix some more using a large wooden spoon until the egg mixture thickens, but doesn’t scramble, and everything is coated. Add extra pasta cooking water to keep it saucy if too dry.