This NEAPOLITAN-STYLE PASTA AND PEAS is not just a dish, but a genuine experience that will transport you straight into Italian grandmothers’ kitchens, where food is love and tradition. A simple and wholesome recipe from Neapolitan country tradition that, when properly prepared, becomes complete, balanced and able to satisfy even the most refined and demanding palates.
The beauty of this dish, a pasta that is dry but not too much as was customary in past centuries, lies in combining contrasting flavors — the sweetness of the peas with the savory punch of pancetta — without one overwhelming the other. The secret, if you will, is perfect cooking of the ingredients: they must not be overboiled, and they must be of good intrinsic quality.
Therefore I suggest using very sweet fresh peas and a good-quality pancetta: the dish is simple, but precisely because of that it highlights each individual flavor, giving a comfort-food pleasure.
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- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Inexpensive
- Rest time: 2 Minutes
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 4 servings
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Spring
Ingredients
- 14 oz pasta (ditalini, mixed shapes or broken spaghetti)
- 2 1/2 cups peas (fresh (about 2 1/2 cups shelled; to obtain ~2 1/2 cups shelled peas you will need roughly 2.2 lb of whole peas in the pod))
- 5 oz pancetta (streaky) (smoked, diced)
- 1 onion (medium)
- to taste extra virgin olive oil
- 2/3 cup grated Parmesan (freshly grated)
- to taste salt
- to taste black pepper
Tools
- 1 Pan
- 1 Pot
PREPARATION: PASTA AND PEAS NEAPOLITAN-STYLE
The preparation of NEAPOLITAN-STYLE PASTA AND PEAS is very easy and quick.
Shell the peas (to obtain about 2 1/2 cups of shelled peas you will need roughly 2.2 lb of whole peas in the pod) and set them aside. You can also use frozen peas, but clearly using fresh, in-season peas gives the dish a completely different flavor.
Remove the rind from the pancetta and cut it into not-too-small cubes. Meanwhile, heat the salted water that you will use to cook the pasta.
In a pan add two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and gently sauté the finely chopped onion over low heat for 2 minutes.
Add the pancetta and cook it for 5 minutes. Finally add the peas and let them take on flavor.
Cover them just to the surface with hot water, season with salt and pepper and cook for 10 minutes.
At this point add the pasta (you can choose ditalini, mixed shapes or broken spaghetti).
Toast the pasta for 1 minute, then add a few ladles of hot water at a time and, stirring occasionally, bring to doneness as you would with a risotto.
Keep the pasta and peas fairly saucy; add the Parmesan and stir vigorously until you obtain a thick, luscious cream.
Plate your Neapolitan-style pasta and peas and finish with extra grated Parmesan and, if you like, a grind of black pepper.
HANDY TIP
A small secret from the Neapolitan tradition is to add, off the heat, a beaten egg and let it cook with the residual heat of the pasta.
TIP
If you want to add an extra aromatic touch to the dish, you can add a few chopped mint leaves near the end of cooking.
