IT'S ALL ABOUT THE PASTA

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It is hard to believe that the 5^th 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

INGREDIENTS:

   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.