Look away if you don't like peas... you know who you are! This savory pea custard (or Italian pea sformato) brings out the full essence of the humble spring veggie. This is a riff on Mario Batali's recipe, which uses just eggs, cream and milk, and a good amount of mint. Around the sformato I added a broken vinaigrette of olive oil and champagne vinegar, along with some crushed peas, then I tumbled on some pancetta crumbles for a bit of crunch and saltiness. Great light lunch or starter, and good to the last pea.
3/4 lb. previously frozen peas
3 eggs
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
3 sprigs of mint
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
fresh ground black pepper
1 tsp. honey
1/4 cup champagne vinegar
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 sprigs of mint
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
fresh ground black pepper
1 tsp. honey
1/4 cup champagne vinegar
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
5 sprigs of fresh mint, cut into chiffonades
1/4 cup sweet peas, quickly steamed or warmed if frozen
For the sformato—In a food processor, blend together the peas, eggs, cream, ricotta and parm. cheeses, mint leaves, lemon juice, salt and pepper until smooth. Grease the bottom and sides of 6 ramekins. Distribute the pea batter equally into each ramekin, and place them into a deep sided casserole type pan. Emerge this pan into a bain-marie (water bath) to help steam the sformato while they bake. Put pans into preheated 350° oven for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean (like a cake). Remove and let the custards cool a bit.
For the dressing—whisk together the honey, champagne vinegar, and olive oil, salt and pepper (or shake vigorously in a lidded jar). You can emulsify or leave as a broken dressing.
1/4 cup sweet peas, quickly steamed or warmed if frozen
6 slices crispy fried pancetta, crumbled
sprigs of pea shoots for garnish, if you have them
For the sformato—In a food processor, blend together the peas, eggs, cream, ricotta and parm. cheeses, mint leaves, lemon juice, salt and pepper until smooth. Grease the bottom and sides of 6 ramekins. Distribute the pea batter equally into each ramekin, and place them into a deep sided casserole type pan. Emerge this pan into a bain-marie (water bath) to help steam the sformato while they bake. Put pans into preheated 350° oven for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean (like a cake). Remove and let the custards cool a bit.
For the dressing—whisk together the honey, champagne vinegar, and olive oil, salt and pepper (or shake vigorously in a lidded jar). You can emulsify or leave as a broken dressing.
For the plating—Spoon some dressing around the plate. Run a knife around the inside edge of the ramekins and invert each gorgeous green sformato onto a serving plate. Sptinkle a dozen or so peas onto each plate, crumble over some of that yummy pancetta, and for one last fabulous touch... add the ribbons of fresh mint. The combo of salty, sweet and creamy is divine.
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