Issues > July/August 2002 (#91) > Summer's First Bounty-Sugar Snaps

Summer's First Bounty-Sugar Snaps

Summer has arrived and so has this season's crop of sugar snap peas; brilliant green, sweet and crunchy, they add a fresh summer touch to a variety of dishes.

Surprisingly, sugar snap peas have only been around for about 30 years. The sugar snap pea is a hybrid of green and snow peas. It has an edible pod like the snow pea, and contains the large sweet seeds of the green pea.

Sugar snap peas can be found at local farmers markets in June and July and again in the fall. They are one of those truly seasonal ingredients that sweep onto our tables to herald the summer season and then cede the way to hot weather fruits and vegetables like tomatoes, watermelon and corn.

If you are not growing them in your own garden, the first step toward enjoying sugar snap peas is purchasing them. Sugar snap peas should be bright green, crisp and free from blemishes when purchased. You may store them in the refrigerator in the crisper box for 1 to 3 days.

Sugar snaps are delightfully versatile. They are delicious straight from the garden, lightly blanched and tossed in a salad or as a component in a more complex dish. Below I offer up some wonderfully fresh and light summery recipes featuring blanched sugar snaps.

Blanching is the perfect cooking technique to get the most flavor out of your sugar snaps. One of the most basic and yet most important culinary techniques, blanching is the process of cooking a vegetable very briefly in rapidly boiling salted water and then plunging it into an ice water bath to stop the cooking process. As with all green vegetables, the blanching process causes the green pigment of the vegetable to appear more vibrant. The peas also become slightly sweeter and pleasantly moist.

To prepare the sugar snaps for blanching, remove the "string" from the seam. To remove the string, locate the end that has a stem or tiny leaves, snap it off and pull lengthwise along the straight side of the pod until the string comes off. Some newer varieties of sugar snap peas are string less and do not need to be cleaned in this manner before cooking them.

To blanch:

1. Fill a large pot about three-quarters full with water and add one and one-half teaspoons of salt for every quart of water in the pot. To insure even cooking, it is important that the vegetables can move freely in the water.

2. Set up a bowl full of ice water with 1 tsp of salt per quart.

3. Bring the water to a rolling boil and drop the peas into the pot. Having the water at a rolling boil insures that the peas cook as quickly as possible. The longer that they are submerged in the water the more vitamin loss that occurs, so you want to insure a fast, effective cooking time.

4. Do not cover the pot while blanching any vegetable. There are acids inside of all green vegetables, these acids will evaporate into the air if the pot is left uncovered. If the pot is covered, the acids will build up in the cooking water and cause the chlorophyll to change to a dull olive green pigment.

5. Cook the peas for 1 to 2 minutes. As soon as the peas have finished cooking, remove them from the pot with a slotted spoon and plunge them immediately into the cold water. This process is called shocking (or refreshing) the vegetable and it stops the cooking process so that the vegetable will not become overcooked, dull green and mushy.

6. Remove the peas from the ice water as soon as they are cool. Pour the peas into a colander and allow them to drain well. If you allow the peas to linger in the ice water they will become water logged and lose their crispness as well as their flavor.

In general when working with sugar snap peas, you should blanch and shock them first and them add them into your recipes. If the recipe calls for the peas to be sliced, blanch them first and slice them afterwards or they will lose flavor and the seeds inside will be lost in the blanching water.

Now that you have perfectly blanched sugar snaps, enjoy them as part of these delightfully light summer recipes provided by Amanda Freitag, the chef of Lavagna Restaurant in New York City. And let us know how you like them. We appreciate your feedback.

Fresh Fettuccine with Sugar Snaps Peas, Goat Cheese and Mint

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 cups sugar snap peas

2 lbs fresh fettuccine

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 cloves garlic

One-half cup fresh mint (leaves tightly packed)

One-half cup fresh basil (leaves tightly packed)

4 tablespoons goat cheese

freshly ground black pepper

Method

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Blanch the sugar snap peas, remove them with a slotted spoon and shock them in cold water. When they are cold, slice them into long thin strips. Use this same pot of water to cook the fettuccine.

Boil the fettuccine in salted water. Reserve one-half cup of the cooking water when the pasta is drained.

In a large pot over low heat, warm the olive oil and add the garlic. Sauté for 2 minutes, do not allow the garlic to brown.

Add the sugar snaps and herbs and sauté for 1 minute.

Add the reserved pasta water and the goat cheese and stir until the cheese has melted into the sauce.

Toss the pasta into the pot and stir to combine all the ingredients.

Season to taste (use plenty of freshly ground black pepper). Serve.

Sugar Snap Pea and Watercress Salad

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 cups sugar snaps

1 bunch (4 cups) watercress

One quarter lb Parmesan cheese

1 shallot

2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

One-quarter cup extra virgin olive oil

salt to taste

freshly ground black pepper

Method

Grate half the Parmesan cheese and slice the other half into long thin strips.

In a small bowl combine the lemon juice, grated Parmesan, salt and pepper then whisk in the olive oil and set aside.

Blanch and shock the sugar snaps. When they are well drained, place them in a salad bowl and set aside.

Clean the watercress of any large stems and break into bite sized pieces and add to the salad bowl.

Slice a shallot into paper-thin rounds and toss into the salad bowl.

Pour the dressing into the salad bowl and toss the salad.

Place onto plates and garnish with the sliced Parmesan.

Risi e Bisi (Sugar Snap Pea Risotto)

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 tablespoons olive oil

1/3 cup diced bacon (approximately 4 strips)

1 small onion (1/2 cup finely diced)

1 cup Arborio rice

4 cups low sodium chicken stock

One-quarter cup frozen green peas (or blanched fresh green peas)

One-half cup sugar snap peas, blanched and sliced on a diagonal

2-3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese

3 teaspoons chopped chives

salt to taste

freshly ground black pepper

Method

Pour the stock into a saucepot and heat over low on a back burner.

In a large pot over medium heat, warm the olive oil and add the bacon. Allow the bacon to cook slowly so that the fat is rendered out. Do not allow the bacon to become brown and crispy. Do not drain the fat from the pan.

Add the onion into the pot and sauté it until it is translucent.

Add the rice into the pot and stir until it is thoroughly combined with the onion and bacon.

Using a ladle, add in 1 cup of the hot stock and stir constantly with a wooden spoon until all the stock has been absorbed. Repeat this step with the last three cups of stock, adding them in one at a time, until all of the stock has been incorporated.

Once the last cup of stock has been absorbed, turn the heat off, stir in the green peas, the sliced sugar snaps, the chopped herbs and the cheese.

Season to taste and serve.

*Note: As with any recipe, make sure to taste the risotto before adding any salt. The stock, bacon and cheese all contain salt and so additional salt may be unnecessary.