This pasta is a riff on a recipe that I saw a few years ago when I read Lunch in Paris, a memoir by an American living in Paris. In the book, Elizabeth Bard links her experiences living abroad to French recipes. One of the recipes is pasta with goat cheese, arugula, and peas.

That combo alone is delicious but I love pesto, so I decided to add that into the mix. I also added lemon because I thought that would pair well with the rest of the ingredients. I wasn’t wrong. The citrus added a pop of flavor and balanced the tangy goat cheese and the greens.

I used strozapretti noodles, partly because I saw them at the grocery store and partly because I thought they’d look good mixed with the other ingredients. Feel free to use any type of noodle you want, though. I think farfalle would also work well.

In other news, I’ve been listening to a lot of Elohim this week. She’s an artist from L.A. who does a lot of electronic pop music. In Hebrew, Elohim means “God” so it was a little weird to me that she’d choose that as her stage name. Then I read an interview where they asked her why she chose it, and she said because it connotes strength, acceptance, and confidence. I can get down with that.

Here’s one of my favorite Elohim songs. My favorite part is when the mariachi band comes in.

Lemon Strozzapreti with Pesto, Arugula, and Peas (from me, to you)

Ingredients

for the pesto:
1 cup of basil
1/2 cup olive oil, or more depending on how you like your pesto
1/2 cup pine nuts
salt and pepper to taste

for the pasta:
1 lb strozzapreti noodles
1 cup arugula
1/2 cup frozen green peas
juice of half a lemon
lemon zest and goat cheese for garnish
salt and pepper for garnish

Directions

Mix the basil, olive oil, pine nuts, and salt and pepper in a food processor on high until smooth. Set aside.

Make the pasta. Once the pasta has a few minutes left, cook the green peas in another boil. Wait until the peas skim the surface of the water and are bright green before you drain them.

Drain the pasta and mix it with the pesto sauce. Add a squeeze of lemon juice. Mix in the arugula leaves and peas. Garnish with lemon zest, goat cheese, and salt and pepper. Enjoy!