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One of my all-time favourite dishes growing up was pasta piselli – pasta with peas cooked with pancetta and onions. Cooked slowly, the sweetness of the onions combined with the salty pancetta was just a great combination and we would always fight for the biggest plate. It was also one of the first dishes I made when I decided to pick up cooking at University. In fact, the day we made and shot this dish, the [terrible] photo I took of my attempt came up on my Facebook memories and surprisingly we used very similar pasta this time around too. 

Fast forward 9 years and I’m hoping my photography skills have improved even just a tiny amount – but the dish itself is much the same! Being here in Italy, we used a fresh red onion from our garden but, if you want to avoid the tears, you can also used frozen chopped onions. I often do this at home as they are almost always in the freezer. 

The splash of water also helps the peas cook without them burning as you don’t want to thaw them out beforehand. Just make sure the heat is kept low as you want the peas to get nice and soft. 

I always like to make extra pasta here as keep it for lunch the next day. You will find that the pasta becomes more starchy and therefore more creamy, and there is just something so satisfying about that, So – if you decide to just make the peas as a side dish for your Sunday roast, double everything up and you’ve got yourself a “sauce” ready for the next day with only the pasta left to cook! Ps. How adorable is my Nonna – I just had to get her involved in my shoot!

Pasta with Peas & Pancetta

Pasta with Peas & Pancetta

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Recipe by Francesca Bragoli
5 from 1 vote
Course: MainCuisine: ItalianDifficulty: Easy
Servings

4

servings
Prep time

5

minutes
Cooking time

1

hour 
Total time

1

hour 

5

minutes

Ingredients

  • 300 g Frozen Peas

  • 100 g Frozen chopped onions – or 1 medium onion diced

  • 1 pack Pancetta (unsmoked), diced

  • 100 ml Cold Water

  • 1 Tbsp Olive Oil

  • 2 Tsp Salt

  • 1 Tsp 1 Tsp Pepper

  • To Serve

  • 400 g pasta – shells or small pasta are great for this one.

Directions

  • Place frozen peas, pancetta and onion in a medium sized saucepan.
  • Add the water, add olive oil, pepper and half the salt.
  • Cook on a low heat with the lid slightly ajar, stirring occasionally for around 1 hour.
  • Once the pea are soft but not mushy, turn off the heat and check the seasoning. The pancetta will add saltiness, but if you feel more is needed, add the additional salt.
  • Meanwhile, cook the pasta as per instructions. When cooked, keep some of the cooking water aside, drain the rest and combine the peas with the pasta. If you want a little more liquid, you can add a splash of water but be careful to not make it too soupy.

Notes

  • Alternatively, I love to have the peas as a side dish with my meals, especially when I make a roast. You can make this in advance and reheat when necessary. 
  • I recommend making bigger portions of the peas and either leaving some aside for the next day or making more pasta for leftovers. Having more peas will mean more steam is created and you can add less water, so overall everything will cook better. Smaller portions often mean the peas don’t have enough steam and can lead to burning. This is why frozen onions work great here rather than fresh.
  • The peas always taste better the next day so this is a great make ahead dish!
  • If you make too much pasta, and have left overs, you can try to keep some pasta water for the next day, or enjoy it as it is – it will be more starchy but I love it this way!
  • You can top with parmesan but I enjoy it as it is!