Snap Pea Salad With Walnuts and Parmesan
Updated Oct. 12, 2023
- Total Time
- 30 minutes
- Prep Time
- 10 minutes
- Cook Time
- 20 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- Salt and black pepper
- Ice, as needed
- ½pound sugar snap peas, trimmed (about 3 cups)
- 1teaspoon lemon zest plus 2 tablespoons juice (from 1 lemon)
- 1tablespoon Dijon mustard
- ½cup toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped
- 1½ounces Parmesan or pecorino, shaved with a vegetable peeler (about ⅓ cup)
- ¼cup mint leaves (optional)
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Preparation
- Step 1
Bring a medium saucepan of salted water to a boil. Prepare a bowl of salted ice water. Drop peas into the boiling water and cook until bright-green and crisp-tender, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Drain the peas, then transfer them to ice water to cool completely. Drain well, shaking the colander.
- Step 2
Return the snap peas to the empty bowl. Add the lemon zest and juice, mustard and a generous grinding of pepper. Stir vigorously until the peas are evenly coated. Stir in the walnuts, Parmesan and mint, if using. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Step 3
Eat at room temperature or cold. The salad can be made ahead and refrigerated for up to 3 days. Add the mint just before serving.
Private Notes
Comments
First time: made without mint as I was out, and with shaved Parmesan instead of Pecorino Romano, same excuse. Tasted the lemon-mustard dressing before mixing with blanched peas, added a bit of olive oil because it seemed a little too bright. Didn’t toast walnuts because I have a bad track record with burnt nuts. After combining and allowing to rest for a bit, thinking next time — more mint, less olive oil. Nonetheless this is a great combo and I look forward to adding to my summer rotation!
Simple and delicious. The lemon and mustard flavors did not overwhelm the snap pea sweetness and slightly bitter toasted walnut taste. The cheese was perfect as was the crunchy texture. I did not use mint, and I'm not sure that it would add anything. Altogether, a perfect salad of minimal ingredient fussiness.
Personally, I would add the dressing right before eating because if you let it sit in the refrigerator or elsewhere, the lemon juice will dull the bright green color of the snap peas. That would be a shame, as the intent here is bright flavor and bright color!
Made it the first time as written, very good but a bit too tart. Second time my only change was to cut the lemon juice in half and added a teaspoon of olive oil. I let the peas dry before adding the dressing, as another commenter suggested. Mix the peas and dressing just before serving to preserve the bright color. Great combination of flavors and textures!
Good with pine nuts instead od walnuts (allergic). I left the mint as an optional item to sprinkle on top. Tiny cubed Pecorino was a nice crunch.
I used 10 oz of peas and nonetheless halved the amount of cheese and felt this was the right ratio. I drizzled in a bit of walnut oil too.
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