Ingredients:
4 cloves garlic
4 ounces (½ a cup) Pecorino Romano cheese (block form is better but pre-shredded works too)
8 ounces of shelled edamame (I use a bag of pre-shelled frozen edamame, thawed in fridge overnight)
¼ cup of pitted castelvetrano olives (or other green olives)
2 cups fresh arugula leaves
Leaves from 12 sprigs of mint
Zest and juice from 3 lemons
4 tablespoons of olive oil (plus a little more for sautéing the garlic)
Salt & pepper to taste
Method:
- Mince the garlic and sauté it in a pan with a little olive oil on low heat for about 3 minutes. Careful not to burn it.
- If using a block of pecorino cheese, cut it into 6-7 smaller pieces and place it in your food processor with the blade attachment. Process for a few minutes until all the cheese is cut into uniform, small sand-like granules.
- Add the shelled edamame, pitted olives, mint, arugula, lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil and sautéed garlic into the food processor. Process until everything is uniformly chopped and thoroughly mixed. You will need to open the top and use a spatula to scrape the sides down a couple times as you go along to make sure it’s all mixed thoroughly.
- Taste for salt & pepper. You may not need too much salt since the pecorino is quite salty, but usually I add some more salt and quite a bit of pepper. Adjust to your taste of course :)
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer. This spread freezes quite well.
💡 This is such a versatile spread. Here are some serving ideas:Serve it with raw veggies, crackers or bread for a snack
- Use it as you would pesto in a pasta dish
- Use it as a filling for raviolis and finish with a sauté of cherry tomatoes & fresh herbs in olive oil and finish with some more pecorino
- Use it as a topping for toast, bruschetta or pizza
- Low carb snack: fill endive leaves with the spread and finish with some fresh pecorino