PEA SHOOT AND PECORINO PASTA

My eyes have always been bigger than my stomach and that is certainly the case now. Despite the fact I am "eating for two", there isn't much room in my tummy and if I overeat I can really feel it and I seriously regret it afterwards. Therefore when we decided to cook pasta on Saturday night, I wanted to find a lightish recipe which wasn't going to repeat on me all night. I cooked this for my husband, daughter and great friend Ceri and it took about 30 minutes in total. It is from a Waitrose magazine in 2014 - definitely time I cooked it!!

Ingredients for 4 people:

400g spaghetti
200g fresh or frozen peas
50g butter
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Zest of one lemon
Juice of half a lemon
50g pea shoots
10g dill, finely chopped
60g Pecorino Romano, grated

I started off by preparing all the ingredients, cutting the dill, grating the cheese and lemon zest and chopping the garlic etc. I would also recommend chopping the pea shoots a little as I nearly choked on one!

Cook the pasta in a large pan of salted boiling water according to the packet's instructions. Mine took about 8 minutes as I wanted them al dente and I added the peas to the boiling water for the final 3 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the butter in a frying pan until foaming and starting to turn golden. Add the garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring often, until the butter is nutty brown. Make sure you don't burn the garlic!

Take off the heat and add the lemon juice immediately to stop it cooking, stir in the zest and set aside.

Drain the pasta and peas, making sure you reserve a cupful of the cooking water. I find it easier to scoop a cupful out before I drain.

Add the pasta back to the pan and mix with the garlic butter and a splash of cooking water (I have two different types of spaghetti in there hence the weird colours)!

Return to a low heat and add the pea shoots, dill and half the cheese.

Finally serve immediately and scatter with the remaining cheese.

My final photo isn't the best but I didn't take care as I was so keen to eat. This tasted so fresh and summery, you can really taste the different flavours - the lemon, the garlic and the peas. Plus despite me eating quite a substantial bowl, it wasn't too filling and over the top. A perfect dish for a summer's day.....we just need the sun to come out now!!