Peas have been cultivated and eaten by humans for thousands of years, originally dried after harvest for their excellent shelf life. They have symbolized luck and prosperity; in the past, their white and yellow flowers were woven into garlands for brides, while the green pods were a key source of nutrition. Peas are among the oldest cultivated and consumed legumes. They were known in Asia Minor as early as 6000 BC and were certainly eaten by the Greeks, Etruscans, and Romans. In culinary literature, peas first appeared in France, dried and mashed with milk, in "Le viandier." By the 1300s, Italian cookbooks included recipes for peas with salted pork. The southern Italian "Liber de coquina" called for peas to be cooked in lard after being mashed with a spoon, resulting in a thick, compact purée. The first cooking water was reused to make a French-style soup, flavored with onion, crumbled bread, and good spices, served with aromatic herbs in a hollowed-out bread bowl. Farmers couldn't afford to waste the volume and nutrition of mature peas by eating them young. They preferred to let them mature, dry them, and grind them into flour to mix with cereal or other legume flours. With these flours, they made porridges, polenta, and sometimes bread.

I had been thinking about making this braided bread with pesto for a long time. I saw it in a photo somewhere—I can't remember where—and I fell in love with it. Maybe it's because green is my favorite color, or maybe it's because I love pesto, but I found it irresistible. I could almost smell it just looking at the picture. When we decided that the traditional recipe for our October Instagram project atavolaper4 would be Genoese pesto, this bread immediately came to mind and I finally decided to make it! A beautiful, fragrant braided bread with pesto, buffalo mozzarella, and a sprinkle of pine nuts... it definitely exceeded my expectations. The aroma filled the house all the way up to the bedrooms, and I couldn't wait for it to cool before tasting a piece—and then another... Let's just say we were supposed to have it for dinner, but between the kids and my husband, it never made it to the table for dinner!

An easy and quick recipe, perfect for summer. With just a few ingredients, you can make a truly delicious and flavorful dish.

With the arrival of warm weather, it's time to change up cooking methods and try new recipes. A friend suggested this one to me, so I made it—and I have to say, it's amazing.

This is an easy recipe that chef Sebastian Fitarau posted on Instagram.

Now more than ever, it's important to get plenty of vitamins! Here's a recipe for SPAGHETTI WITH SPINACH AND ALMOND PESTO. Raw spinach, almonds, fresh garlic, aged Parmesan cheese, and extra virgin olive oil make this dish a complete meal packed with vitamins, protein, minerals, and carbohydrates. This pesto is so good, you might want to eat it by the spoonful! 😉