This peas and pancetta pasta dish will satisfy your craving for a filling creamy pasta dinner. Salty and crispy pancetta pairs with a sherry parmesan cream sauce then gets a generous helping of vibrant green peas.
WHAT IS PANCETTA?
Pancetta is salt cured pork belly. It’s somewhat similar to bacon, but pancetta has less of an intense meaty flavor and is much saltier. It’s also similar to prosciutto, but the main difference is that pancetta comes from the belly, while prosciutto comes from the hind leg. You can find pancetta in your grocery store in the deli section and is sold as slices or in cubed pieces.
Read more about the differences between bacon, pancetta, and prosciutto in this article from TheKitchn!
HOW TO COOK THE PANCETTA
Because pancetta has been dry cured it’s safe to eat without cooking it, but once you try these cooked crispy little pieces this will be the only way you’ll want to prepare your pancetta!
Step 1. Heat your pan over medium heat. If you bought sliced pancetta cut the slices into bite-sized pieces.
Step 2. Add the pancetta to the pan and cook 8-10 minutes until all the pieces are nicely crisped. If you’re using the cubed pancetta you might need to cook as long as 12 minutes depending on how thick the pieces are.
Step 3. With a slotted spatula or spoon, remove to a paper towel lined plate to remove some excess grease.
After that it’s ready to serve! Like I said above it’s quite salty, so I love to add it to creamy dishes to help balance that out….like my creamy pesto and burrata!
After you cook up the pancetta the rest of the recipe is pretty straightforward! I make a roux combining butter and flour, some fresh garlic, light cream, Parmesan, sherry cooking wine, and of course…the peas!
COOKING TIPS
I want this to come out absolutely perfect for you, so here are some pasta cooking tips!
- Use light cream instead of half & half. The extra fat content in the light cream will help the sauce stay smooth and creamy.
- Add the noodles in batches to the sauce. I like to do this incase I accidentally made too many noodles, if you add them all at one time you might not have enough sauce to go around.
- Don’t forget to reserve some of the pasta water! This is the best way to thin out a sauce that gets a bit too thick.
- If you don’t want to cook with wine you can substitute chicken broth.
For more creamy pasta dinners here are some more of my favorites!
Alfredo Tomato Sauce
Marry Me Pasta
Creamy Sun-dried Tomato Pasta
Marsala Cream Sauce Pasta
Peas and Pancetta Pasta
Peas and pancetta pasta will satisfy your craving for a filling creamy pasta dinner. Salty and crispy pancetta pairs with a parmesan cream sauce then gets a vibrant green peas.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings
- Category: Pasta
- Method: Saute
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
3/4 box of thin linguini (I always use 3/4 of a box, a full box I find is too much!)
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
4 garlic cloves, grated
2 cups light cream
1 and 1/4 cup fresh shredded Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup reserved pasta water
1/3 cup sherry cooking wine
4 ounce package of pancetta
3/4 cup cooked peas
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook the noodles. While the noodles are cooking carefully ladle out and reserve 1/2 cup of the water to add to the sauce later.
2. To cook the pancetta, if you have sliced pancetta cut into small bite-sized pieces. Add the pancetta to the pan and cook 8-10 minutes until all the pieces are nicely crisped. If you’re using pre-diced pancetta you may need to cook as long as 12 minutes depending on how thick the pieces are. With a slotted spatula or spoon, remove to a paper towel lined plate to remove some excess grease. Set aside.
3. Gently wipe clean the pan you cooked the pancetta in and add the butter over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, then add the flour to make the roux. Carefully pour in the sherry wine and whisk to combine into the roux.
4. Pour in the light cream, raise heat to medium and cook for 5 minutes. Add the Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Stir to combine, add as much of the reserved pasta water to thin out the sauce to your liking.
5. Add the peas and cooked noodles and stir to coat all of the pasta. Lastly, add the cooked pancetta then serve!