No pretensions, just great comfort food. Pasta and peas, with crispy pancetta, is a delicious meal that happens to be very easy to prepare. You can enjoy this pasta dish with great results year-round using frozen peas. If you are lucky enough to get your hands on some fresh peas from the fields, even better. And with a little help shelling the peas, even better still!
This Italian pasta and peas recipe belongs in the lean-on-me pasta folder — easy to keep the ingredients stocked, and there for us when we are far past hungry and it seems like fainting of hunger won’t be long. Or just feeling tired. Or lazy. It’s a pasta dish to lean on when we need to come up with a meal at the last-minute, or just want a highly satisfying home cooked meal.
“Peas, we have peas in the freezer!” one of our brains thankfully serves up after scanning an inventory of dinner ideas rivaling our empty fridge and bellies. “Two slices! We have two slices of bacon! Pasta and peas tonight!” we agree with alacrity and relief. Then I remember how good pasta with peas is with a glass of red wine — a rustic and earthy red goes so well.
The wine may or may not happen. The pasta with peas and crispy pancetta will surely provide another easy and enjoyable evening at the table. If you have pasta, frozen peas and pecorino (or parmigiano) cheese always in stock, all that’s left is a quick peak in the fridge for a little pancetta, or bacon.
Ingredients for Pasta and Peas
You’ll need few ingredients for this pasta dish, and they’re easy to keep in stock. Pasta (short), peas (fresh or frozen), shallots (or onion), freshly grated pecorino cheese (or parmesan) and diced pancetta (or bacon). Make sure to check out the recipe below for full ingredient quantities.
Pasta
For the pasta, short tubes, with holes big enough to capture the peas, are ideal. See in the photo above how the peas nestle right into the pasta? This is a cozy pasta dish.
Great short pasta options include mezze (half) penne, mezzi ziti, rigatoni and conchiglie (shells). Macaroni works pretty well too.
Peas
Along with their sweet flavor and tender texture, fresh peas are a pleasant reminder that spring is on its way. But, they also freeze particularly well, which is very convenient for us, as pasta with peas is perfect for easy and cozy winter meals as well.
Peas | Did you know?
Peas grow wild in the Mediterranean, and are another one of those vegetables, or legumes, that are really a fruit. They’ve been cultivated for at least 10,000 years and cherished throughout the land (at least the Fertile Crescent).
Ancient Greeks and Romans couldn’t get enough. Dried peas became a pillar of sustenance in the cold months of winter for the poor and rich alike. In the middle ages, peas were used as currency for the field workers. Onward past the Renaissance years, peas from Genoa Italy became one of the absolute favorite foods of Luis XIV, King of France — which consequently made them both popular and very expensive.
Pecorino Cheese
Pecorino, which comes from the pecora (sheep), is the perfect cheese for pasta with peas.
- Pecorino Sardo – One of the oldest cheeses in the world, the deep and flavorful pecorino Sardo from the Mediterranean island of Sardinia — where a traffic jam is still most likely from a flock of sheep — is the ideal choice. However, it can be hard to find.
- When looking for pecorino Sardo, you may come across Fiore Sardo. This is a smoked Sardinian pecorino cheese based on Sardinian shepherds’ original method of making cheese — by the fire inside their cuile, a type of hut-corral. This can work with pasta and peas, but changes the flavor profile — although not altogether, if you are also using smoked pancetta or bacon.
- Pecorino Romano – Sardinia is also the biggest maker of Pecorino Romano (although we’ve never seen a clue of it in Sardinia, my husband’s terra madre). Pecorino Romano is generally saltier than Pecorino Sardo, but easier to get in the U.S. It’s a good grating cheese.
- Other Pecorinos, like the milder, less salty Tuscan pecorino (originating from the migration of Sardinian shepherds to Tuscany with their flocks), or France’s Ossau Iraty are fantastic too.
- Great Substitutes – Grana cheeses like Parmigiano Reggiano or Grana Padano can be used in a pinch. You are very unlikely to have any complaints!
Sourcing Pecorino: Eataly’s Pecorinos
Pancetta | Bacon
Pancetta, or bacon, is so flavorful that even half the amount will still make all the difference in this pasta and peas recipe.
- Pre-diced pancetta (pan CHEHT ta) is super convenient. Smoked or unsmoked is your call — both are good in this dish. If you can’t find pancetta, you can carefully cut slices of bacon into strips or squares. (I find kitchen scissors easier to use for this, but use whatever you find easiest and safest.)
- Guanciale – If you can find the other bacon, guanciale (gwan CHAH leh), my husband’s top choice, you can certainly use it in place of the pancetta or regular bacon.
- Dry-cured ham makes a good substitute, such as prosciutto crudo or jamón serrano (neither needing to be cooked). Either have it thinly sliced at the market, and then roughly chop it, or you can get a large piece to dice.
Recipe
See recipe notes at the bottom for variations, like adding cream to the pasta, cooking the peas in broth or adding a touch of fresh mint.
Ingredients
- 8 oz, ½lb pasta (any short pasta that can hold the peas is ideal: mezze penne, rigatoni, shells…)
- 2.5 oz pre-diced pancetta (unsmoked or smoked) or bacon, cut into lardons, about ½”, 20mm wide (see notes for substitutions)
- 3 shallots or 1 small onion, chopped
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (if needed)
- 6 oz, or 1 heaping cup peas, fresh (shelled) or frozen
- a pinch kosher or table sea salt
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 2 Tbsp pecorino cheese, ideally pecorino Sardo (or Parmigiano Reggiano), freshly grated, plus more for the table
- a pinch freshly ground pepper
Instructions
- Cook the pancetta in a large skillet on medium heat until lightly golden and crisp. Set aside on paper towels to keep crisp, leaving the rendered fat in the skillet.
- Bring a large covered pot of salted water to boil.
- Meanwhile, add the chopped shallots to the skillet (and olive oil, if the skillet seems too dry), and cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until they start to color, about 5 minutes.
- Add the peas, salt, and 1 cup of water, and cook covered until tender, stirring occasionally, around 20 minutes. Adjust for heat if needed.
- Meanwhile, when the pasta water comes to a boil, add the pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente, tender yet still firm to the bite.
- Transfer the pasta to the sauce with a slotted spoon along with 1/2 cup of the pasta water. Add the butter and toss over medium heat, until the water is almost absorbed, and the pasta becomes creamy.Turn off the heat, add the grated pecorino, pancetta and freshly ground pepper, and toss thoroughly.
- Enjoy with more pecorino grated at the table. Buon appetito!
Substitutions
- Dry-cured ham, such as prosciutto crudo or jamon serrano (diced or chopped from slices) can be substituted for the pancetta or bacon, and does not need to be pre-cooked. Add to the peas the last few minutes of cooking.
- Guanciale – Pre-cook as directed for pancetta, or bacon.
Extras & Variations
- Broth – For a little extra depth, add a ladle (or frozen broth cube) of chicken broth while cooking the peas.
- Cream – Stir in a little while tossing the peas with the pasta over medium heat. (Around 4 Tablespoons per 2 servings)
- Fresh Mint – Stir in at the end. Sprinkle on top to serve.
