Quick dinner idea: Creamy pasta with peas and fresh mint

Comforting yet light and summery, this is a classic family fave in our house and oh-so-simple to cook when you have 10 minutes to make dinner.

It’s one of those recipes where you’ve probably got most of the ingredients in without thinking. A tub of cream cheese is every cook’s friend. It can be spread on crackers, used to dunk carrot sticks into, transformed into a cheesecake, and in this case form the basis of a creamy pasta sauce.

And my best pal of all – frozen peas. Instantly available vegetable liberally peppered through a lot of the meals in this house to increase our chances of living the five-a-day dream. My boys also adore a pot of frozen peas as a snack – sounds odd but you would not believe how quiet Arlo is for at least 7 minutes while he slowly munches his way through them! Whatever it takes…

So yes, if you’re having a day where you just need to get dinner on the table NOW then give this a go.

Creamy pasta with peas and fresh mint (serves 4)

300g pasta
2 handfuls of frozen peas
200g tub cream cheese
Handful of fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
The juice of a lemon (grate the zest and freeze for another day)
Grated Parmesan to serve

Bring a large pan of water to the boil and cook your pasta according to packet instructions.

Meanwhile in a bowl mix together the cream cheese, chopped mint and lemon juice with a wooden spoon, season to taste.

Add the frozen peas to the pasta for the final two minutes of cooking. Drain, retaining a little of the water with the pasta. Add your cheese mixture and stir thoroughly until it’s melted to form a creamy sauce. If it’s too stiff and claggy then add a splash of milk to let it down a bit.

Divide between pasta bowls, scatter liberally with grated Parmesan and serve with a fresh green salad.

I used the pasta I’d got as a freebie at Cybermummy 2011 from Garofalo – they’ve launched a cute kiddie’s range of novelty shaped organic durum wheat pasta. I got Moons and Stars but there’s also Little Toys, Flying Saucers and Car Engines to choose from.

Pasta is the one thing I don’t ever have trouble feeding the boys, so to be honest it could be any shape and they’d still wolf it down! The quality of Garofalo is excellent though.

I’m entering this post into Presto Pasta Nights blogging event hosted by my lovely chum Helen over at Fuss Free Flavours – hope it fits the bill!