Your email address is required to begin the subscription process. We will use it for customer service and other communications from Milk Street. You can unsubscribe from receiving our emails at any time.
Orecchiette with Tomatoes, Peas and Pancetta
Slightly brothy yet chunky, pasta e piselli lands somewhere between soup and generously sauced pasta. Home cook and Pompei resident Antonella Scala taught us her recipe, which we adapted, for an ultra-easy one-pot affair. To form the flavor base, we use the rendered fat from pancetta crisped in olive oil to sweat a chopped onion until softened and sweet. Chopped plum tomatoes followed by a couple tablespoons of tomato paste cook down in the pot, supplying depth of flavor and umami. We cook the pasta directly in the mix, not separately, which lends the sauce starchiness and body, then peas, parsley and pecorino are stirred in at the finish. Scala used a mix of small pasta shapes, but we chose orecchiette and cavatelli, cup-like shapes that capture peas and boast a hearty, almost dumpling-like texture. At the end of cooking, be sure to wait about five minutes before serving. This allows the consistency to thicken slightly.
4 to 6
Servings
Don’t bother defrosting the peas. There is enough heat in the pot to thaw the frozen peas, and adding them while cold prevents overcooking so they retain their texture and color. However, if your peas are caked in ice, before use, simply rinse them under running cold water so they break apart.
45 minutes
Ingredients
-
2
tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to serve
-
4
ounces pancetta, chopped
Directions
-
01In a large Dutch oven over medium, combine the oil and pancetta; cook, stirring, until browned and crisped, 5 to 7 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the pancetta to a paper towel-lined plate. To the fat remaining in the pot, add the onion. Cook, stirring, until softened but not browned, about 3 minutes.
Pardon the interruption
You need to be a Milk Street Digital Member to see the full recipe
JOIN MILK STREET DIGITAL & PRINT
12 WEEKS FOR JUST $1
and get access to all of our recipes and articles online, as well as in print.
GET DIGITAL & PRINT