5/5 - (3 votes)

Pasta Piselli e Pancetta, or Pasta, peas with pancetta, is a very easy to make Italian dish. With just a few ingredients you can quickly have a wonderful meal ready to serve. In fact it all takes less than an hour.

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I did see a couple of recipes that include some garlic. However most do not, so I don’t use it in this recipe. That keeps the flavours nice and simple, where you can taste each individual one.

The pasta of choice, for me, is ditaloni. But you can easily use other pastas, such as ditalini, shells or broken spaghetti.

The recipe might seem rather simple, and it is. However you shouldn’t be surprised at just how tasty it is.

My one variation from many recipes is to use a vegetable stock as the liquid, when many use just water. I think the stock adds just that little extra. Indeed chicken stock might be good too.

So, some onion and pancetta along with pasta and peas and finally some pecorino plus a little seasoning to taste and you have a perfect meal. Although I use pecorino parmesan is a great alternative that many people will have on hand.

Similarly, some chopped streaky bacon is a good alternative to pancetta.

Pasta Pisell e Pancetta - frying onions and pancetta — Onions & Pancetta

Ingredients For Pasta Piselli E Pancetta

Onion – finely chopped.

Pasta – I use ditaloni pasta but other varieties will be good too.

Peas – I use frozen peas and add them towards the end of cooking. You can use fresh peas instead, but might need to add them earlier.

Pancetta – A lovely Italian style bacon chopped into chunks. Chopped streaky bacon will work well too.

Pecorino – This sheeps cheese grates well and gives a great flavour, with a slight tang, to the sauce. Parmesan is a great alternative.

Liquid – I use vegetable stock, but water or chicken stock will also work.

Olive Oil – For frying off the onions and pancetta.

Salt & Pepper – Seasonng to taste.

Pasta piselli e pancetta - adding the stock — Adding the stock to onions and pancetta

Process for Pasta Piselli E Pancetta

This is all so easy to make and is ready in less than an hour.

Simple fry the onions and pancetta, gently, in the olive oil until the onions are translucent. Then add the stock and bring it to a boil. Put the pasta in and stir it until it comes back to a boil. Then cover the pot and cook for about 8 minutes. Test the flavour for seasoning and adjust as necessary.

Pasta Piselli E Pancetta - with pasta and peas added. — Pasta and peas added to the pot

Then add the peas and bring back to a boil. Cover and cook for a further two minutes. Test the pasta to ensure it is aldente, or to your liking. Stir in the pecorino until melted through. Cover the pan and leave for at least 15 minutes. The longer you leave it the more liquid will absorb into the pasta.

Have some boiling water available during cooking, just in case you need to add more liquid. Mine was fine without more.

Pasta piselli e pancetta - with pecorino stirred through — Pecorino stirred through to complete the dish

My Meal

In well under an hour, including waiting 15 minutes at the end, my pasta piselli e pancetta was ready to serve. The sauce was just thick enough for my liking, so I served a good portion. The taste test was perfect, with the pasta perfectly cooked. The flavour of the onions and pancetta shone through, along with all those peas. The pecorino gave a great flavour to the sauce too. I did hold back a little pecorino to sprinkle to on the top of my serving.

This is a very good, quick and easy recipe.

Pasta Piselli E Pancetta – Video

Another great recipe is Porcini Mushroom & Pea Risotto.