Ingredients
- 1 pound sugar snap peas
- 1 cup sun-dried tomatoes, packed in oil
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tablespoon pine nuts
- 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon Sriracha or Tabasco sauce
- 4 radishes sliced thin
- 8 fresh basil leaves, chopped into small pieces
- 8 fresh mint leaves, chopped into small pieces
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- grated zest 1 lemon
- Juice of 1 lemon (2 tablespoons)
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Preparation
TO PREP THE SNAP PEAS
Put a large pot of salted water on to boil.
Clean the sugar snap peas by snapping off one hard tip, grabbing the edge of the “string” that runs across the top, and pulling it off, then snapping off the other end.
When the water is boiling hard, plunge the snap peas into the pot. (Make sure the water is really boiling when you add the peas—you want them to be bright and crisp and crunchy, so they need to cook fast.) Blanch the snap peas for about a minute and a half, until they turn emerald green and their flavor has mellowed a little bit (they should still taste pretty fresh). If you let the snap peas sit in the water too long, the outsides will turn slimy.
While the peas are blanching, make a “bath” of ice and water.
When the peas are ready, pull them out of the pot with a strainer and plunge them right into the ice water bath, to stop the cooking process. Leave them in the ice water to cool completely.
TO MAKE THE SAUCE
While the snap peas are cooling, put the sun-dried tomatoes in a blender. Add 1 ¾ cups of hot tap water, the garlic, pine nuts, olive oil, tomato paste, and Sriracha. Blend everything together on high speed for about 1 minute, until you have a smooth, sun-dried-tomato-tasting orange paste. (You’ll have a little more sauce than you need for the dish, but this is the best way to get the right proportions).
Cool the sauce down in the fridge for 15 minutes or so: you don’t want to pour hot sauce on your cold snap peas. (The sauce will keep in the fridge for up to 4 days, and in the freezer for up to a month).
TO MAKE THE DRESSING
Drain the water from the snap peas. Add the radishes to the bowl and mix the vegetables with your hands, so you’ve got an even mix of radishes and snap peas.
Add the basil, mint, salt, pepper, and olive oil to the bowl.
Zest and squeeze in the lemon zest and juice, and then mix everything together well, so that all the radishes and snap peas are coated evenly.
TO FINISH THE DISH
Pull the sauce out of the fridge, and use a spoon to spread it thickly over the bottom of a serving plate.
Pile the snap peas and radishes on top of the sauce.
Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese generously over the top, and serve this up right away.
