Pancetta pea pasta

Monday night is usually pasta night in our house. I’ve been consistently making pasta with the two pot method for a few years now and I can humbly pronounce that my weeknight pasta game is strong. When I think back to what my mom used to serve us, (cooked pasta that she rinsed under cold water ?!?! with spaghetti sauce - what is this even? - spooned on top) I feel sad that I was part of a generation of kids that grew up (in Canada with WASP-y parents) not knowing what real pasta was supposed to taste like. In other words, my kids are spoiled.

Tonight’s takes:

Husband: 👌 “Really good. Delicious.”

Helen (5 1/2 years old): “Good. Like a 10. You know from a 15.” So, like 10/10? Or 10/15? “Yes.” 🤷‍♀️

Hector (3 years old): “I like dinner mama. Baba [dad in Greek], what did you make dinner with?”

What I used:

• 8 pieces pancetta

• 3 garlic cloves

• 1/2 750g bag frozen peas

• small bunch fresh thyme, leaves stripped from stems

• 1 pkg Gemelli pasta (500g)

• ~1 tbsp butter

• ~1 tbsp olive oil

• 1 cup grated Parmesan

What I did:

Got water + salt on to boil.

Put pancetta slices in cold Dutch oven. Turned burner onto medium.

Flipped pancetta over once browned - about 6 minutes.

Waited for water to boil. Made myself a cocktail. Slim pickings in the liquor cabinet these days - 1 1/2 ounce each of amaretto, Aperol, and vodka, + splash orange bitters over ice. On the sweet side, but satisfactory for a Monday.

Added pasta to boiling water. Set timer for 2 minutes less than package al dente instructions - 7 minutes.

Removed browned pancetta from pan. Chopped it up.

Sliced garlic. Added to hot pan. Browned for a minute or so.

With 4 minutes left on pasta timer, added frozen peas. Scraped up browned bits.

With 2 minutes left on pasta time, added thyme leaves.

Added cooked pasta into Dutch oven. Added butter and olive oil. Added 1/2 cup of pasta water.

Stirred like crazy to get sauce emulsifying. Realized I forgot to add pancetta back. Did that.

Added Parmesan. Added another 1/2 cup pasta water.

Stirred for another 30 seconds or so. Added another 1/2 cup pasta water - added 1 1/2 cups totals tonight. Stirred until sauce looked good and creamy.

Done!

Next time:

I originally wanted to make this with mint - next time I’ll try that. I love mint and after getting familiar with Greek cooking (which uses a lot of mint!) I’m not afraid to add it to all kinds of savoury dishes these days.

PK added chili flakes to his pasta at the table. This was really good. I might add a few of these with the garlic next time.

😋😋😋

-Ellisa