ICE, ICE, BABY.
It’s cold, unforgiving and never sends you a card on your birthday, but your freezer is still your best friend. It also means frozen pea pesto is but 5 minutes away....
There was a forbidding Antarctic landscape at the bottom of my refrigerator, and I needed the endurance of Ernest Shackleton to traverse it. So I did a freezer audit, and found it so rewarding, I’m now evangelical about it.
(If you are one of those people who already have everything neatly labelled and sorted into groups in your freezer, with an updated list of what’s what on the side of the fridge, then go to the top of the class. In fact, skip class and go hang out in the library).
HOW TO AUDIT YOUR FREEZER
Lay out a few tea towels on kitchen bench or table. Remove everything from the freezer and place it on the bench. Sort it into groups. Meats here, veg there, soups here, mystery parcels there.
Now get yourself some masking tape and a thick black pen, for you are going to get organized.
A good audit is a strategic combination of kindness, cruelty and self-awareness. Questions need to be asked.
Are you really going to use up those three frozen parmesan rinds, or do you just like to think you are the sort of person who would use them to add flavour to a soup, but you keep forgetting that they are there?
Why do you have SO MANY breadcrumbs?
Is that frozen watermelon popsicle really from pre-lockdown? (And how did you get through a lockdown without eating it?)
Be vicious, and evict all free-loaders.
Now, take out the freezer bins if removable, tip out all those frozen green peas rolling around the bottom, and give everything a good scrub.
Go through all the containers, packets and bags, and either do a list of what you are keeping, or label everything. Replace manky seal bags.
Yes, seal bags are evil, but an evil necessity. Unless they have been used for fish, you can always wash, dry and re-use.
Return to the freezer in their groups, so you don’t have to go through everything just to find the kaffir lime leaves that you know are in there somewhere.
Further reading? The ever-sparkly Jane de Graaff has some great freezer tips and a guide to how long you can freeze various foods here.
Okay, that’s it. Celebrate by making pesto with frozen green peas, then use it as a pasta sauce, fold into risotto, slather onto sourdough toast with a poachy, or serve with grilled lamb chops. Also very nice with fish and chips.
FROZEN PEA PESTO
It’s green, it tastes of sweet peas and nutty parmesan, and it has a multitude of uses. Plus, it takes 5 minutes. Double plus, you can freeze any that’s left-over!
200 g frozen peas
2 garlic cloves, grated
2 tbsp basil leaves
2 tbsp pine nuts, walnuts, cashews or mixed
1 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp grated parmesan
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Pour boiling water over the peas to cover, count to 10, then drain.
Throw the peas, garlic, basil, nuts, sea salt and parmesan into a food processor and pulse a few times to get it started.
Add the olive oil and whiz until it all comes together, leaving some natural texture in there so it’s not super-smooth.
Scrape into a bowl, taste for sea salt, and fold in some additional olive oil if dry, which it probably will be.
Seal and refrigerate if not using immediately.
TURN IT INTO PEA PESTO PASTA
To use as a pasta sauce, cook up the pasta – a short, twirly shape works the best. When al dente, drain the pasta, keeping a good half cup of pasta water.
Combine the pesto and most of the pasta water in a warm bowl, then add the pasta and a good swirl of olive oil and toss well until well-coated and saucy. Add more pasta water to loosen, if necessary. It won’t get watery, because the cheese and pasta will absorb it.
Top with a little butter, cracked black pepper and a good grating of parmesan, and serve hot. Tip: throw a handful of peas into the pasta just before you drain it.
Thanks for dropping by! And special thanks to, Terry Durack, for, well, pretty much everything.
I would also like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands and waters upon which I work, live, cook and play; the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. I fully support the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice to be enshrined in Australia’s Constitution. It’s about time, folks.
You won’t believe it but I just did a freezer audit the other day and threw out a fish stock that I thought was only a few months old but turns out it was over 12 months old. Dates help. Loving the sound of the pea pesto and can’t wait to try.
Looks like I am the one who has to go to the library. I label pretty much everything, have a list on the fridge as to what is in the pantry freezer and the laundry freezer BUT, I also have things that have been in the freezer far too long, so like you did, I have a clean out, it is amazing what you find.