Peas — season, tips, and recipes in Australia
Peas is a vegetables available in Queensland during September, October, November, December, peaking in October, November. This page is a practical guide for home cooks: when to buy peas, how to pick a good one, how to store it, what it goes well with, three original recipes, and detailed nutrition information.
Tasmania and Victoria are the main growing regions. Fresh peas in the pod are a completely different experience from frozen.
How to pick a good one
Bright green, plump pods that squeak when rubbed. Eat fresh peas raw from the pod: sweetest you'll ever taste.
How to store it
Fridge in pod for a few days. Shell before eating. Freeze immediately after shelling.
Goes well with
mint: Mint and peas share a freshness that amplifies each other. The combination is specifically English, which is a reasonable indication that they go together: not much else from English cooking is worth preserving.
lemon: Acid brightens pea's green flavour. Fresh peas with lemon and butter is a side dish that requires very little skill and produces excellent results.
ricotta: Ricotta's mild creaminess and slight sweetness sit comfortably against peas without overpowering them. Used together in pasta, on toast, and in fritters.
prosciutto: Salt and peas is a reliable combination. Prosciutto's intensity contrasts with pea's mild sweetness in a way that makes both more interesting.
butter: Butter carries pea's aroma compounds and makes them taste more intensely of pea. Buttered peas are more than peas with butter added -- the fat changes the flavour perception.
Recipes
Pea & Mint Soup
Bright green. 15 minutes.
Ingredients: 500g peas (fresh or frozen), 1 onion, 750ml stock, handful mint, knob butter
Method: Sweat onion in butter. Add peas and stock. Simmer 5 min. Add mint. Blend until smooth.
Smashed Peas on Toast
The better avocado toast.
Ingredients: 200g peas, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 lemon (zest and juice), handful mint, feta, chilli flakes, toast
Method: Blanch peas 2 min. Drain. Roughly smash with fork. Mix with oil, lemon, torn mint. Pile on toast. Crumble feta, scatter chilli.
Pea & Prosciutto Pasta
Fast dinner. 15 minutes.
Ingredients: 300g pasta, 200g peas, 6 slices prosciutto, 1 lemon (zest), parmesan, olive oil, black pepper
Method: Cook pasta. Add peas for last 2 min. Drain. Toss with crispy torn prosciutto (fried in oil), lemon zest, parmesan, pepper.
Nutrition
One cup provides 35% of your daily vitamin C, 30% of your vitamin K, 25% of your thiamine, and 9g of protein. That protein content is remarkable for a vegetable. Also provides 7g of fibre. About 118 calories per cup. Fresh peas have significantly more vitamin C than frozen, which lose about 50% during processing.