Green Garlic & Pea Bruschetta with Chevre

These little cheesy pea toasts would be lovely with a bowl of soup, or cold cuts, or tuna salad, or a light green salad for lunch. Or if  you are prepared to eat enough of them, just a radish or two on the side. They would also do nicely passed as an appetizer. 

It would be a bit fiddly to prep the peas just to make this - maybe worth it! - but it is an ideal way to use up leftover cooked peas, which is what I did. Prep time does not include cooking the peas. 

I ended up only using the bulbs of my "green" garlic. The hot and dry weather we have had rendered the rest of it so tough and hard as to be unusable, even the just-forming scapes.

4 to 6 servings
20 minutes prep time

1 cup shelled and cooked peas
20 slices baguette
2 heads of green garlic
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
2 tablespoons finely chopped mint OR basil
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste
150 grams (5 ounces) soft goat cheese

If your peas are not already cooked and shelled, then you must do so. They should be tender but not mushy. Mash them lightly.

Slice the baguette and arrange it on a pan to go under the broiler.

Peel the green garlic cloves and mince them finely. Any parts of the scape which are tender may also be finely minced and used. Wash the herbs, drain them well, and mince them.

Heat the butter in a skillet and cook the garlic in it over medium heat, until fragrant and just showing signs of turning brown. Remove it from the the heat. Mix in the herbs and season with salt and pepper. Add the lightly mashed peas. Crumble the cheese and mix it in. Set this aside as you toast the bread.

Light the broiler and toast the bread lightly on both sides. Spread the garlic, pea, and cheese mixture evenly over the slices of toast and return to the broiler. Toast until the topping is well heated through. Serve at once.




Last year at this time I made Haskap Sauce for Broiled Fish or Chicken.

Posted in: Ontario Food