It is hard to believe that the 5th anniversary of
the start of the Pasta Quest is only 2 months away. Last evening I decided to visit the first of our 300 pasta
meals, linguine with a sauce of pureed peas.
This, from May 2, 2011:
5-2-11 pureed peas and
more
½ lb. spaghetti or linguini
4 slices of bacon, chopped
Package of frozen peas, thawed
2 cloves garlic, chopped
½ cup of grated Parmesan cheese
½ cup olive oil
Optional – ¼ cup of chopped
toasted walnuts
PROCESS:
Cook the bacon, set aside
and remove the grease. Puree the
peas, olive oil,
Cheese, garlic, and mint
and add to the pan with the bacon.
Mix the pasta
when ready…al dente..and
serve immediately. Add pasta water
as needed to
thin the sauce to your
taste.
COMMENTS:
This was good, and Patience and I
would both like to see it again.
Patience gave this a 6.5, I gave
it a 7 out of 10. We both agreed
on several
changes…adding fresh basil, pine
nuts, and cream, and keeping some of the
peas out of the puree. P also suggested seared bay
scallops…she was getting
a little obnoxious and pushy at
this point so I closed the discussion.
Now, almost 5 years
later, the revised recipe:
Linguine
Peas
Pancetta
Grana Padana Cheese
Garlic and Basil
Olive Oil
Toasted Pine nut
Heavy whipping cream
Cook the pancetta and remove and set aside. Discard most of the grease and use the
pan to cook the remaining peas in small amount of chicken broth.
Puree 2/3 of the peas with olive oil, cheese, and pine
nuts. Add to the pan with the peas
and cook for about 5-10 minutes while the pasta is cooking. Several minutes before the pasta is
ready add the cream and stir well.
Add the pasta, with some reserved pasta water if
necessary. Sprinkle with fresh
parsley and the pancetta and serve.
Comments – much better than it was 5 years ago.
