Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Angel hair with peas and pancetta

M loves angel hair and I have to admit, it really has grown on me. I just love the texture. This is my concoction I made last night. It was really good and you should give it a try.

Angel hair with peas and pancetta
Ingredients:

1 lb angel hair pasta
1/4 lb sliced pancetta (about bacon thickness). It's in the deli case at the grocer.

1/4 cup marscapone (you could sub cream cheese or ricotta, but the texture would be a little different)
4 tbs or so of freshly grated parmesan
1/2 lb frozen green peas

1 head garlic
Couple of tablespoons of olive oil
Handful of fresh basil
Salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste

Directions:
Slice top off of head of garlic, place upright in tinfoil and drizzle with a teaspoon or so of olive oil. Place in toaster oven and bake at 350 for 45 minutes.
You can do this ahead of time or if you're pressed for time, you can simmer the peeled whole cloves in a few tablespoons of olive oil on the stovetop for about 20 minutes.
Steam peas for about 4 minutes until bright green. Cool and set aside. Stack basil leaves, roll into a little cylinder and slice (aka chiffonade the basil). Slice pancetta into 1/2 inch wide strips.
In a large pot, saute over med heat in a tablespoon of olive oil until just a little crispy. You could sub regular bacon, but you'll need to drain off some of the grease and omit the olive oil. While pancetta is cooking, cook angel hair to package directions (about 4 minutes). Drain angel hair and reserve approx. 1/4 cup of water.
Mince peeled roasted garlic (yes I know it's quite mushy) and add to large pot, along with peas and marscapone. Heat over med heat until cheese breaks down a little. Salt and pepper to taste.
Add angel hair (with reserved water), parmesan, another tablespoon or so of olive oil, 2 tsp garlic powder, the basil, salt and pepper to the large pot. Toss over med heat until everything is heated through. I served with steamed green beans, sauteed with olive oil and sweet onion, the juice and zest of half a large lemon, salt and pepper, and tossed with toasted almonds. In case you've never seen marscapone, this is what it looks like:

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4 comments:

Vanessa Greenway said...

Hi! R loves angel hair too! That looks like a good recipe to try, except the peas (he's not a big fan..) I like your blog! Vanessa

Jeni said...

Thanks! Maybe sub some lightly blanched asparagus? I think that'd be really yummy. I'd go a full pound of it if that's the case though.

Malena said...

Ha! I just ate 1/2 pound of angel hair pasta yesterday when the kids were napping. I only put butter and salt on it. I know, gross - but sooo yummy at the same time!
I'll try this recipe though!

Jeni said...

No no no that's one of the best ways to have it in my opinion. I like it with a little twist of that... with olive oil, a little garlic powder and some salt...toss in some pine nuts and it's AWESOME!!!!

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