Chef Yotam Ottolenghi’s Pea Spread Recipe

A pea spread, also known as pea dip or pea mezze, is an appetizer or side dish made of blended green peas mixed with a variety of herbs and spices. Chef Yotam Ottolenghi’s version calls for lightly cooked peas, tarragon, mint, garlic, lemon juice, and cumin.

Mezze, also known as mazza or meze, is a spread, dip, or small dish often served with bread for scooping. You can eat mezze as an appetizer or as part of a larger meal made up of several spreads. Popular in Morocco, Spain, Greece, Italy, Israel, Palestine, and elsewhere, mezze recipes differ from region to region.

According to Chef Yotam, mezzes, like his pea spread recipe, are typically flavorful and bright in color. “Mezze is really all about opening up the appetite, starting a meal, [getting] the juice flowing,” he says. “You really want the flavors. You want the intensity. You want the beautiful colors.”

Chef Yotam Ottolenghi’s pea spread is quick and easy to make. Here are a few tips from the chef to help you make his recipe:

1. 1. Use frozen or fresh peas. Chef Yotam suggests using frozen, defrosted, or fresh (but lightly cooked) peas. You can even use fava beans. “[Use] anything green and beautiful … that says spring,” he says.
2. 2. Experiment with your herbs. While fresh mint and peas is a classic combination, you can also add in other soft herbs. “This is where you can kind of choose to put anything you want or anything that grows in your garden,” he says. “Basil, cilantro, chives—all your soft herbs can actually go into this pea [mezze]. And the peas are gonna thank you for indulging them with all these wonderful herbs.”
3. 3. Pulse your peas. When using the food processor, make sure your mixture still has some texture. “You wanna pulse this, but not too much,” he says. “Don’t pulverize everything to death. [Hummus] has to be super, super smooth. This pea purée [has a] slightly rough texture.”
4. 4. Add lemon. Lemon serves a couple of purposes in this dish. “I really wanna taste the lemon because it balances the sweetness of the pea,” he says. “It [also] adds [extra] freshness.”
5. 5. Serve with marinated feta. You can go light on heat, salt and smokiness by pairing your pea spread with smoky marinated feta, which is feta that sits in an oil bath infused with garlic, lemon, bay leaves, and charred chili flakes. “It’s like feta on steroids,” he says. “I’m gonna have that smokiness there and garlic and lemon and all those wonderful things in with the feta.”