Double Pea Spaghetti with Lemon and Mint

I never met a vegetable I did not like. Actually that's not entirely true.

I know, I know, my name is "The Cutting Veg." And now, I can say that, while I obviously have my favorite veggies, I do not think there is a vegetable I dislike. The greener, the better, in my opinion. However, when I was a kid, there were two veggies I could not STAND. One was mushrooms. As someone who would read their bio textbook (for fun?!) I knew that mushroom's cell walls were made of the same substance as your hair and fingernails. Nuh uh I was not going to be eating my hair and fingernails for dinner, thank you very much! The other veggie I hated was peas. Peas were always served mushy and cooked to death. My parents (love you guys!) served peas and tofu for dinner which, as an 8 year old constantly craving Wendy's chocolate frosties and fries, that was a no go.

Dipping french fries in frosty was my official sport, fyi. 

However, as I grew up, I fell in love with peas. Gnocchi with vodka sauce with little peas was something I ordered at our Italian restaurant every single week. If you succeeded in not over cooking them, there is something about their sweetness that makes them addicting, especially in a cheesy pasta dish. This dish is light enough for summer and pack the combo of crispy sugar snap peas with tiny and sweet peas. You know what I'm talking about the pasta baby. Yeah, this succeeds in not giving you one. Plus, there's a ton of cheese in here. Because I'm lactose intolerant, I use cottage cheese in place of ricotta, as I find my stomach can handle cottage cheese better. However, please feel free to substitute in the ricotta in if cottage cheese freaks you out a bit. 

Double Pea Spaghetti with Lemon and Mint

Serves 1
Inspired by Smitten Kitchen
Stuff

• 2 oz whole wheat or rice spaghetti
• 1 yellow zucchini, spiralized or julienned (you can substitute a green zucchini, but I love the color and the slight sweetness of the yellow)
• 1/3 cup frozen or fresh peas (trader joe's has the BEST frozen peas)
• 1/3 cup chopped sugar snap peas
• salt
• black pepper or red pepper flakes
• olive oil
• 1 scallion, roughly chopped into 1 inch pieces
• 1/4 cup sweet corn, cut from cob
• 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 lemon
• 3 tablespoons of cottage cheese or ricotta cheese
• 1.5 tablespoons goats cheese
• few leaves of mint, slivereed

Meanderings

1. Bring a large pot of salted water up to a boil. Cook spaghetti for less than 2 minutes than the suggested cook time, then add sugar snap peas and regular peas to pasta water. Cook for one minute more. Reserve 1/4 cup of pasta water, then drain the pasta and peas in a colander. 
2. While the pasta and peas are cooking, drizzle olive oil in a small skillet and bring to medium heat. Add scallion pieces and corn and cook for 3-5 minutes, until the scallion and corn begin to blister and slightly char. Once done cooking, put aside.
3. Placed drained peas and pasta back into the pasta pot, then add approximately 1 tablespoon of the pasta water, grated Parmesan cheese, cooked corn, cooked scallions, a glug of olive oil, salt, and freshly ground pepper. Cook on high heat for about one minute, until the pasta water, cheese, and olive oil form a sauce. If the pasta cooks a little dry, add a bit more of the pasta water. Turn the heat off
4. In a small bowl, combine the cottage or ricotta cheese and the goats cheese. Add dollops all over the pasta and, without stirring, tip the pasta directly into the serving dish (this creates cheese pockets!). Drizzle the pasta with olive oil. Squeeze lemon all over, then finish with a sprinkle of mint and Parmesan. Eat IMMEDIATELY.

Cause seriously, what doesn't say love like cheese pockets?

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