Frozen peas were not an ingredient with which I was familiar until I had a baby. They integrated my household under the guise of an innocent ingredient which I could puree if needed (yes, I was one of THOSE mothers) and stayed on as a pantry stalwart.
Unexpected guests drop by for a drink? Quick Bruschetta smeared with cream cheese and mashed peas and topped with chopped mint (or ricotta instead of cream cheese if you are lucky enough to have just done the weekly shop). Guests or colleagues came over for one reason or another and are lingering around at dinner time? While this dish is delicious in the spring with fresh peas and the seasonal addition of little gem baby lettuce braised in chicken stock, it is also very good when made in the fall or winter, with handy ingredients straight from the freezer and cupboard.
Contrary to my usual habit of transcibing my recipes for 4, this is a recipe for 2. Just multiply it based on the number of people who have (slightly) overstayed their welcome for whom you are cooking this. Or half it and eat it greedily by yourself, late at night, to sustain you when you need to watch just one more episode of a riviting show before going to bed.
1 package frozen peas
6 slices best Pancetta you can get, thick cut
2 portions of dried pasta (I use Campanelle because I like how the sauce sticks to it and I leave portion size vague for pasta because your vision of pasta portion size might be smaller than mine)
3 Tbps freshly grated Parmesan
1 clove of garlic, unpeeled
Place a large pot of salted water on the stove, along with the unpeeled clove of garlic, and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook pasta according to directions on the package.
As soon as you set the pot of water on to boil, turn on the oven and preheat to 400. Before the oven has even reached the necessary temperature, remove your Pancetta from the freezer, lay the slices on a baking tray and bake for 5 minutes. If using fresh Pancetta, place in oven when temperature reaches 400 and bake for 3 minutes, until crisp.
Turn the oven off. Remove the baking tray from the oven, set the Pancetta aside on a paper towel. Tip the frozen peas onto the hot baking tray and shake the peas in the rendered Pancetta fat.
Pour the peas and rendered fat into a bowl, add 1 ladleful of pasta water and, using an immersion blender, blend together until smooth. You can add another couple of ladles of water to reach a sauce of completely smooth consistency but add the water a little at a time so as to keep the sauce thick, about the consistency of heavy cream. Stir in one tablespoon of the Parmesan.
As soon as the pasta is cooked, drain well. Remove the garlic clove from the drained pasta, squeeze the cooked garlic out of its skin and into your sauce and blitz one last time with the immersion blender.
Put the pasta back in its cooking pan. Add the sauce and mix well. Tear 4 pieces of the Pancetta into rustic pieces and distribute evently throughout the pasta.
Place portions on plates and sprinkle each plate with one tablespoon of Parmesan and top with one remaining whole slice of Pancetta as a jaunty garnish.
Between the salt in the pasta water, the Pancetta and the Parmesan, I have never felt the need to season this dish but please check seasoning to your taste before serving.