Peas And A Pasta

We eat a lot of pasta in this house and make all kinds of sauces to go with it.  Not just your old red sauce and meatballs here.  You can do so many things with a box of pasta.  It's inexpensive to buy, I always get it on sale, and have a stockpile of it in the pantry.  My daughter now makes her own homemade pasta,  it's so good,  she doesn't buy it in the grocery store anymore.  I haven't ventured that far yet, although I have made it once or twice in my lifetime.  Here is a new favorite of mine, Pasta and Peas.  It's quick to make, filling and easy on the budget.  Recipe below.

I started with a little olive oil in the pan, 1/3 cup of diced pancetta and 4 large cloves of  minced garlic.

 Saute it together in the frying pan, be careful not to burn the garlic.  I used linguine for my dish, but you can use any shape pasta you like, and I used 1 1/2 cups of petite peas.

 Drain the pasta, pour on the sauce, toss with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

 And it's dinner in about 20 minutes.  Serve with a garden salad, warm bread or garlic bread. Yummy good!

Pasta and Peas

Ingredients

1 lb. box of your favorite pasta

1/4 cup of olive oil

1/3 cup of diced pancetta, can also use bacon, cook until crispy

4 large cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning

1 1/2 cups of frozen petite peas

salt and pepper to taste

Parmigiano - Reggiano cheese

Directions

Start a large pot of salted water on high heat for the pasta.  In a saute pan, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil (from the 1/4 of oil) heat on medium- high.  Add the pancetta, saute for 5 - 7 minutes or until crispy, turn the heat down to medium, then add the garlic and saute together until the garlic is fragrant, but be sure not to burn the garlic. Turn the heat down again to a simmer, add the remainder of the olive oil and the Italian seasoning. Stir to combine with the pancetta and garlic.

Add pasta to boiling water and stir.  In the last few minutes of cooking add the peas to the pasta water to cook them quickly. When pasta is cooked drain in a colander then transfer to a serving bowl.  Toss with the pancetta and garlic sauce, salt and pepper, and grated cheese.  Makes 6 - 8 servings.