Green stuff

by June

The peas are up! Fern says they look like tiny asparagus spears, and so they do. 

The very sight of those brave little sprouts gives us a Pavlovian madness for fresh peas (like that one over there from last year). Since fresh-from-the-garden is impossible, we're resorting to the Green Stuff.

That's what we call our beloved pea spread. The idea came from an old Jewish cookbook. It's supposed to taste like chopped chicken liver, but don't let that dissuade you. It doesn't. It tastes like the whole green, growing world on a cracker.

We do it this way:

Hard-boil three eggs.

Toast three-quarters cup of walnuts.

Dice and saute one largish onion in olive oil.

Stir one-and-a-half cups of frozen peas into the sauteed onions. Thaw them out but don't over-cook them.

Put everything in a food processor. Whirl. Add salt to taste and lots of pepper. Dash in Worcestershire sauce. Squeeze a lemon over it but not for long. Whirl again.

Eat on toast or carrots or right off the spoon. We have been known to eat it off our fingers, but we wouldn't do that if you were coming to dinner, promise.