These luscious roasted peas with tomato sauce and sweet red bell pepper along with sun-dried tomatoes will make a delicious and satisfying, Mediterranean main course.
Peas tend to be a boring side dish in Western cuisine, my mind goes to those old-school TV dinners. In the Mediterranean we stew peas in tomato sauce and herbs and they are the main actor of the meal, rather than a necessary side dish. They are considered a staple in the Greek kitchen. We have them once a week as a main course along with feta and bread. And while the kids eat them, they are getting a bit bored, which is why I’m so happy I came across another delicious way to prepare them: roasted!
I was inspired by a recipe on a calendar from the Greek frozen foods company Barba Stathis, and I’m so glad I did. This easy recipe takes peas to a new level! The peas are roasted until they are rich and thick, infused with all the flavor from the peppers and sun-dried tomatoes. A delicious dish that I will be making regularly.
Nutritional Value of Peas-A Superfood
Many people consider peas just a starchy vegetable with little nutritional value, but actually it is quite the opposite. Peas belong to the legume family, they have very few calories and are rich in nutrients. A cup of cooked peas has about 130 calories, 8 grams of protein and 9 grams of fiber (the type that lowers your cholesterol), that in itself is impressive. But that’s not all, peas are also a great source of folate, vitamin A, C, K, and also iron, copper and manganese. In addition, peas are one of the top vegetable sources of phytosterols, a group of natural compounds found in plants which may block the absorption of cholesterol. Finally, peas are a good source of antioxidants, specifically lutein, and zeaxanthin, which play an important role in maintaining the health of skin and eyes.
In this specific dish you will be getting additional nutrients and antioxidants from the extra virgin olive oil, tomato, and peppers. Plus the olive oil helps absorb even more nutrients.
Frozen vegetables in general maintain their nutrients (in some cases even more than fresh), I always keep bags of peas, green beans and spinach in my freezer. But if you can get your hands on fresh peas in their pod, they are delicious.
So let’s get on with the recipe. Within a Mediterranean Diet you would eat this as a main course, as is or with a bit of feta (cheese) and some bread if you wish. A serving size is a big bowl, about 1 ½ cup. This can be consumed warm or at room temperature and can be stored in the refrigerator for 3 days.
Roasted Peas with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Peppers
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1 bell pepper sliced in rings
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 16 oz. bags of frozen peas(900 grams)
- 16 ounces crushed tomatoes or tomato puree
- ¾ cup sun-dried tomatoes rinsed (you may cut them in half, I left them whole)
- ¼ cup chopped fresh dill
- 3 tablespoons breadcrumbs-I used wholegrain barley (you may omit this for a gluten free version)
- Salt and Pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 350 F (180 C)
- In a pan, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and sauté the onion and bell pepper for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
- In a large pot with boiling water add the 2 bay leaves and the peas. Boil for 2 minutes. Remove and drain.
- In a bowl mix gently the peas, onion and pepper, bay leaves, tomato, dill, salt and the sun-dried tomatoes. Empty the mixture in a casserole dish (about 2 L). Drizzle over the rest of the olive oil. Sprinkle with the breadcrumbs.
- Add about ½ cup hot water in the side of the dish titling so that the water spreads at the whole base of the dish.
- Grind some black pepper over it and bake in the oven for about 30 minutes until the peas have thickened.
- Remove and let it cool.
- Serve as is or with feta.
Notes
SAVE FOR LATER AND PIN IT!
Photo by Elena Paravantes All Rights Reserved
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29 Comments
Would this work for most veggies? I have several frozen veggies – mixed bag of corn, carrots and peas as well as green beans I need to use up.
How can such a simple dish be so flavourful!? Dill is definitely part of the secret as well as the baking of the dish. I think next time I will put more crumbs on top for texture and then not eat the dish with bread but rather with feta. Thanks for a winner, Elena. (I also enjoyed the spanakorizo but I know the dish and have often made it before.)
Seems like you could use most any vegetables for this? I have some miscellaneous frozen veggies – mixed corn, peas, carrots, green beans. I’d like to use them up and this looks like it would be a great way to go.
I have not tried it, but it should work, although the flavour and texture will be slightly different.
Sorry, Elna. I meant to send that question to Elena.
Another absolutely fabulous recipe. My husband and I enjoyed this with a salad. Yum.
I was a bit sceptical of this one when it came through on the diet challenge as I’ve never been a fan of peas, but it was amazing. It’s insane how much flavour this has! And super budget friendly. I also enjoyed having the leftovers the next day for lunch… I warmed up a small bowl in the microwave, and then mixed a can of sardines through. This one is definitely going to be added to my lunch rotation when we’re finally allowed to go back to the office 🙂
Elena, my mother always made this once a week; I grew up eating this from the time I was young. Every once in a while she would add in roasted potatoes as a treat with a side Greek Salad and always feta!! Your recipes bring back many splendid memories of us kids growing up…sure do miss them all..
This was delicious. This is another dish where I followed the recipe and will, in future, NOT add any water. There was still just a bit left and the peas didn’t dry out some as expected from the recipe, but it was delicious anyway. A product we have in the U.S. that’s been helpful with all these recipes is Litehouse freeze-dried dill. It comes in bottles at most supermarkets and SEEMS much like fresh cut rather than dried out.
I made this in an oval copper French au gratin pan from Mauviel in France and it just fit for baking. Like your green bean fasolakia lathera recipe that I’ve made a few times by now, this one too didn’t need that extra water here in California, and using mostly Mauviel copper pots.
I also made by the bread crumbs for this just by chopping up two frozen slices of French baguette and then drying out some on a baking sheet before baking along with the rest of the dish. The crunch was a nice contrast to the peas.
I should also mention that without intending too I’ve been losing a few pounds a week since changing over to the Mediterranean diet on average of five or six days a week. I hardly eat any meat anymore, and I figure if you’re even just focused on eating two fruits a day and increasing vegetables consumption, you can’t miss. It’s such a nice (and effective) change to be focused on what’s being ADDED to my “diet” rather than on what I should leave out and deprive myself of.
I also found your web site and book to be the easiest introduction to the Mediterranean diet, and have had very little butter, flour, milk, and other things for weeks now.
Dear Robert, Thank you for sharing your tips! Happy to hear you are finding the diet, the site and the book helpful!
Looks great. However, could I roast in a slow cooker? If so what changes would you make?
Made this recipe for our main meal today. I have to say I never thought of peas as something I would want to make a meal of, but this recipe has changed my mind. It was delicious!!! Definitely another keeper.
Thank you!!
This was absolutely fantastic!
Thank you Bob!!
All the family prefer petit pois and don’t normally like garden peas. Can I do this with petit pois or would they dry out too much in the oven? Thank you.
I made this for lunch and it was excellent! I didn’t have any sundried tomatoes on hand so I roasted some cherry tomatoes and it still gave a great flavor. Next time I think I’ll add a few chopped kalamata olives as I think the dish could handle a nice salty bite. Looking forward to trying more of your recipes!
Thank you for sharing Danielle! Great idea using roasted cherry tomatoes!
there is a lot of oil in this recipe as much as I love olive oil lol how many people does this feed as a main dish? and could you lower it to 1/4 cup
Hi Allan, The recipe provides between 5-6 servings, thanks for catching that -just added it. It seems like a lot of olive oil but it corresponds to about 1 1/2 tablespoon for each serving. And it is needed to provide the flavor and texture. It is important to note that research has shown that the consumption of about 3 tablespoons of olive oil a day provides the benefits seen.
And yes 6 servings makes sense for 1/2 cup I thought it was 2from the pic an made this last night was supper tasty I made some changes like I added oregano and balanced diced carrots
Thank you for this lovely recipe, Elena. I too had to substitute the herbs that I had – parsley and coriander. We enjoyed it with mashed potatoes and celeriac. – perhaps not very Greek but worked a treat. Looking forward to trying more of your recipes.
Thank you for sharing Liz. Love celeriac.
Awesome I was in Greece last may and had something like this dish , I go back in may this year to Crete any suggestions on food there?
Do you use sun dried tomatoes in oil, or dry? Any suggestions as an alternate to dill? I’m eager to make this!
I couldn’t wait to make it so I used my own judgement! I used sun dried tomatoes in oil, diced; I also diced the red pepper; and without dry or fresh dill I used 1/2 tsp Greek oregano. It was delicious!!! My Greek friend was in the area, so as it was already baking in the oven, i invited her over for an impromptu lunch, and we both loved it! I had to cook it quite a bit longer, and definitely think it serves 6 generous main dish servings, depending on your appetite of course! Thanks for another great recipe!
Thank you for sharing your substitutions Nancy. Glad you enjoyed it!!
Hi Nancy, I used sun-dried tomatoes in oil but I rinsed and dried them. But dry can work too. Instead of dill you can use parsley as well.