Peas and pea shoots with sausage

I have to admit, I got excited when I saw pea shoots at the farmer’s market. In my area, pea shoots are one of the first spring vegetables to show up, and I try to take advantage of their short season. The bunch I picked up this weekend was covered in purple flowers.

I’ve had my eye on this recipe from Jose Andres' Tapas cookbook for quite a while. Peas and pea shoots are cooked with leek, onion and a little bit of sausage and bacon to make a light and delicious dish. I served this as a main course, but you could also serve it as a side. The original recipe calls for butifarra, which is a type of Spanish pork sausage. I didn’t have time to seek out butifarra, so I went with a link of italian turkey sausage which worked well.

I made quite a few changes to the original recipe, but one change was unintentional. You see, the version in the book called for fresh mint. I went out to my garden, and painstakingly picked some tiny mint leaves to sprinkle over the top. I came back inside, set them on the kitchen counter and then promptly forgot about them. So, no mint in my version, but feel free to add it.

This was a really delicious meal – a wide variety of tastes and textures, and relatively healthy too. What more can you ask for?

Peas and pea shoots with sausage
Serves 2 as a main course
Adapted from Tapas

1/2 c white onion, finely chopped
1 leek, light green and white part only, finely chopped
2 slices of bacon, coarsely chopped
1 mild pork or turkey sausage, casing removed
1/4 c chicken stock
1 1/2 c fresh or frozen peas
1 1/2 c pea shoots
salt to taste

Heat a large saucepan over high heat. Add the bacon, reduce the heat to medium, and cook until browned and crisp. Remove the bacon from the pan, drain on paper towels. Reserve about 2 teaspoons of bacon fat in the pan, pour off the rest. Add the leek and onion to the pan, saute until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the sausage, break up into small pieces, and cook until the sausage is done. Pour the chicken broth into the pan and add the peas and pea shoots. Cook until the peas are done and the pea shoots have just wilted, about 3-5 minutes. Season to taste with salt.