Sometimes you just gotta get straight to the point and so I want you to trust me. You have to make this for dinner this week. It is the best thing I have made in a long, long time without any of the fuss and fanfare –  it is ready for lip smacking lips in under 20 minutes.

Get one pot of water on the stove, boiling and ready for your pasta. Pour yourself a glass of wine and get on with your pea sauce. Toast some pine nuts, wash your herbs and if you fancy, you could pan fry some prosciutto (if you are one lucky sun-of-a-gun and just so happen to have some in your refrigerator) to snap over the finished dish. We, however, enjoyed this delicious vegetarian version just as laid out for you below and it received a small round of Monday night applause (Hurrah!!!!). I hope, hope, hope that you will be just as happy with it on any given beautiful night of the week xx

Green pea pasta with fetta and fresh herbs
Serves 4 with ease

500g pasta of your choice

Green pea sauce
20 g butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
600 g baby peas
1½ cups chicken stock or water
1 tablespoon olive oil
50g pine nuts
1 tablespoon chilli flakes
Fresh parsley (& or mint) leaves, to serve
Fetta, to serve (Persian fetta or alternatively Meredith dairy marinated goats cheese for a ‘midweek’ show stopper)

Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Add enough salt for it to taste like the sea (number 1 rule for cooking pasta well). Add your pasta of choice and cook according to instructions.

To make pea sauce, melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes or until soft. Add peas and stock. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 1–2 minutes or until peas are just tender. Strain peas, reserving liquid. Reserve some of the peas and then put the majority of the peas and 1 cup of reserved liquid into a food processor. Process until smooth, adding more liquid if required.

Warm the olive oil in a small frying pan over medium heat. Add the pine nuts and chilli flakes, and cook for a few minutes (being mindful not to burn the nuts), or until the pine nuts are golden and the oil is a deep red.

Drain the cooked pasta into a colander and then tip back into the drained pot. Add the pea sauce gradually to the pasta. Add the reserved warm peas, the herbs, feta, and a little salt over the top to finish. Toss gently. Serve immediately, with pine nuts and chilli infused olive oil spooned over the top.

It looks pretty gorgeous but it’s more than just looks here – try it for yourself. It is a new love in our house.