Peas — season, tips, and recipes in New Zealand
Peas is a vegetables available in New Zealand 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.
Canterbury is NZ's main pea region. 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.