This roasted garlic sweet pea bruschetta is a sweet, seasonal spring recipe. It’s great as an appetizer for a dinner party or served with a bit of extra protein and veggies for an open-faced sandwich. 
I distinctly remember the first time I made a variation of this roasted garlic sweet pea bruschetta. It was close to ten years ago, and I was living in a shoebox apartment with a teeny, tiny galley kitchen. It was the first place I lived in that wasn’t a group house or apartment. My BFF had recently relocated to the DC area from NYC and let me tell you – we felt like hot shit in our very own two-bedroom place.
I was back on the cooking wagon after taking a hiatus while I was living in group housing situations. My bedroom was always littered with cookbooks from the library, and I spent countless hours scouring the emerging world of food blogs. There was nothing I wouldn’t try at least once. Consequently I had a lot of food around, so I frequently bribed asked friends to come over to try my creations.
It was on such a night that I made this pea bruschetta for the first time. I was floored by how good pureed sweet peas could taste. I had a friend over that evening, and we sat outside on my little apartment stoop drinking white wine and eating this pea bruschetta slathered over a loaf of pumpernickel bread with some cheese and cured meats.
It was one of those perfect early-20-something evenings where you suddenly find yourself feeling like an real live adult and you’re not quite sure how you got there. This memory has always stuck with me, and I think of that friend every time I make this recipe – which is reason enough in my book to make it again and again.
Roasted Garlic Sweet Pea Bruschetta Recipe and Serving Notes
This recipe is based on a version from The New American Plate Cookbook (affiliate link), with a few additions. Overall the book is fantastic, and I checked it out of the library so much that I eventually purchased it.
Feel free to use fresh peas in this recipe. I don’t, only because it takes an extra step to blanch them, and when they’re going to get mashed anyway, frozen are completely acceptable.
When it comes to the sprouts, you can take ’em or leave ’em, but they do bring this into more of an open-faced sandwich territory, which I like. It means I can get away with serving these as a snack at a dinner party and then using the leftovers for lunch along with a little bit of roasted chicken and some sliced cucumbers.
The sweetness from the garlic and the peas is perfectly complemented by sourdough, but go for whatever savory bread you happen to prefer. If you’d like to try it hummus style, by all means stuff it into a pita with some cucumbers and extra sprouts. I’ve done it, I didn’t regret it, and you won’t either.
Roasted Garlic Sweet Pea Bruschetta
Print Recipe Rate This RecipeIngredients
- 1 head of garlic
- 1 tbsp avocado oil
- 2 c. frozen peas defrosted under cool running water
- 1/4 c. parmesan
- 1/4 c. tahini
- 1/2 lemon juiced
- 2-4 tbsp olive oil
- sea salt to taste
- cracked black pepper to taste
- sourdough sliced and toasted, for serving
- red pepper flakes for serving
- alfalfa sprouts for serving
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400. Slice the top from the garlic head and drizzle the exposed cloves with 1 tbsp avocado oil and a pinch of salt. Wrap the entire head of garlic in a piece of aluminum foil and then place the wrapped garlic in the oven. Roast the garlic until the cloves turn golden brown and soft enough to spread, 30-40 minutes. Remove the garlic from the foil and allow to cool.
- Once the garlic is cool enough to handle, gently squeeze out each clove and transfer to a food processor or blender. To the food processor/blender, add the thawed peas, parmesan, tahini, and lemon juice. Turn on the machine on and start to puree, slowly adding the olive oil a little at a time, and scraping down the sides once or twice. Add additional olive oil to reach desired consistency.
- Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper to preference. I like about 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper.
- Serve immediately or store in the fridge for about a week. To serve, spread over toasted sourdough and top with red pepper flakes and sprouts.
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