Pancetta

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Sautéed Peas Roman-Style

peas

Why Roman style? Simply because I learned this recipe when I was a student in Rome — many years ago. It’s a recipe that one of my professors talked about in the hallway between classes. It’s never left my repertoire.

It’s so easy. So lovely. A perfect accompaniment to meat, fish, seafood. And so pretty, too!

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Sautéed Roman Peas w Onion & Pancetta

2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for drizzling

1/3 cup pancetta, diced

1 medium onion, peeled, halved, thinly sliced

¼ cup wine

1 lb. bag frozen peas

salt & pepper to taste

Heat oil in a medium sauté pan. Add the pancetta. Cook until lightly browned. Add onion & cook until softened, about 3-4 minutes. Add the wine. Let it simmer for a minute or so and mostly evaporate. Add peas and a ¼ cup of water. Cook until peas defrost and water evaporates. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle a little olive oil. Serve.

BOOK peas roman

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Fresh Fava Bean w Pasta Recipe

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fresh fava beans

I think my first encounter with fava beans was in the 70’s when I went to school in Rome. I was surrounded by Italians — many in love with cooking (but, of course). So I was not only encouraged to eat fava, but to cook them, too. It’s a process I would bring home with me to NYC… and one that I would encounter in quantity while working the prep kitchen at Mario Batali’s Lupa restaurant. There, we were asked to prepare the fava beans with love. And we did.

Favas are not the kind of vegetable you bring home and just sauté, or boil, or roast. There’s a time-intensive, work-intensive ritual before the cooking starts. Don’t be scared away. It’s well worth it!

Favas generally appear in the spring and fall. But with our global transfer of foods, there are places you might be able to buy them all the time. I find them often at international groceries and/or Middle Eastern grocery stores. Italians are not the only culture in love with fava beans.

Here’s a recipe for fava cooked with leeks and pancetta and tossed with pasta. Do (really do) try it. It’s homey, and easy, and full of flavor. And quick!

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pasta w fava beans

First. How to prepare the favas. They grow in thick pods — like peas pods after a workout. Get a lot. I usually half-fill or almost-fill a clear vegetable bag. After shucking the beans you’ll throw away the pods.

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pile of fava pods

Tear open the pods, and pull out the beans inside.

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luscious fava in the pod

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beans out of the pods

But you’re not done with prep yet. First get a medium saucepan of water boiling. Add little salt. Toss in the fava beans and boil for about 1-2 minutes. You’re not really cooking them here, just trying to loosen the shells.

Drain the beans and run them under cool water. Now pinch one end of the shell and push out the deeper green-colored bean inside.

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peeling fava shells

You can throw out the shells. But keep those precious green jewels!

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peeled, blanched fava

NOW start your recipe. Sauté some minced leek (I use 1 leek, just the white part, rinsed well), with about 1/4 lb. diced pancetta in a little olive oil.

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saute leek and pancetta

When the leek has softened and the pancetta cooks through, add the favas. Sauté 3-4 minutes. Then add a splash of dry white wine or dry vermouth. Let that evaporate.

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add vermouth

Then simmer for 4-5 minutes more until the favas are tender to the bite. Season with salt.

Meanwhile, boil a favorite cut pasta in salted boiling water— about 1/2 lb. When almost al dente drain and add to the sauté pan.

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add the pasta

Cook stirring for a few minutes more. Add some pasta water if too dry. Add a few drizzles of olive oil. Season with some more salt if needed.

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pasta w fava beans

Add some torn basil leaves if you’ve got ’em. Mmmmmm! Enjoy.

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pasta w fava beans

Fresh Fava Bean w Pasta Recipe

2 lbs. fava beans in pods

1 leek, trimmed of green, rinsed, & diced

1/4 lb. diced pancetta

olive oil for sautéing plus extra

1/4 cup dry white wine or dry vermouth

1/2 lb. favorite cut pasta

salt to taste

Open the pods and take out the fava beans. Discard pods. Bring a medium saucepan, half full with water, to a boil. Salt water. Drop in fava beans, boil for 1-2 minutes. Drain and rinse in cool water. Pinch the end of each bean shell and push out the bright green beans in side. Discard shells.

Put a pot of pasta water on to boil.

Add a couple of drizzles of olive oil to a medium sauté pan, heat till hot. Add diced leek and pancetta. Sauté for 1- 2 minutes. Add fava beans, sauté for 1-2 minutes. Add wine or vermouth. Simmer until mostly evaporated, 2-3 minutes more. Cook a couple of minutes more until fava are tender to the bite.

Meanwhile, add salt to boiling water and boil pasta. When almost al dente, drain and add pasta to sauté pan. Stir to coat. Sauté adding some pasta water if too dry, adding some olive oil to coast, adjust seasoning (salt), add some torn fresh basil if you have some.

Serve with grated parmigiano (optional).

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Got Garganelli?

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fresh-made garganelli

I have a lot of favorite pasta shapes…fusilli lunghi, orecchiette, linguine, bucatini…but these days I’m in love with garganelli.

Lots of Italians believe some shapes only go with some sauces and some shapes would never go with other sauces. i.e. orecchiette is great with broccoli rabe and sausage; linguine with a clam sauce; bucatini with the Sicilian “pasta con le sarde” (sardines) sauce.

Garganelli might typically marry with cream and prosciutto, or hang out with a duck ragu, but coat it with a fresh tomato sauce and it’s still says perfect. Originally from the Emilia-Romagna region (where I’m taking my cooking class students this year), it’s a hand-shaped pasta made from an egg pasta dough.

It’s easy to make. But you’ll need a gnocchi board. And a pencil, or not-too-thick dowel. Some gnocchi boards come with a dowel for making this pasta.

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gnocchi boards (and one with a dowel for garganelli)

We made it my class this week and newbies became experts super-quick.

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my class making garganelli

Full recipe below. I pair it with my other new favorite: artichoke & pancetta sauce. But here are some tips for making the garganelli shape.

After you roll out your dough to pretty thin (about a 4 on the pasta machine rollers), cut the dough into 1-1.5-inch squares. Lay the square, turned to look like a diamond, at one end of the gnocchi board.

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rolling the dough

Lay the pencil or dowel at the tip nearest you and roll up the dough along the pencil, pressing it against the groves of the gnocchi board.

If it sticks to the board, add a little flour to the board and/or the dough piece. But not too much — you want the dough ends to stick together.

They’re super-fun to make, and I LOVE the taste. Yes, I do think that different pasta shapes, despite the sauce they’re in, taste differently. Just chewing through a forkful of spaghetti strands makes a different eating experience than a few penne in your mouth.

I hope you’ll try it — and if you do — let me know how it goes!

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garganelli fresh-made

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garganelli w artichoke-pancetta sauce

Fresh Garganelli Pasta w Roman Artichoke & Pancetta Sauce

For the Pasta: 

2 cups flour

¼ teaspoon salt

3 eggs, lightly beaten

For the Sauce:

12 ounces, frozen artichoke hearts, thawed

olive oil for sautéing, plus more for drizzling

1 large shallot, peeled and diced

4 ounces pancetta, diced

1/4 cup heavy cream

salt & pepper to taste

Make the Pasta:

Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl. Create a “well” in the middle of the flour and add the eggs. Using a fork slowly mix the flour into the egg, until the dough comes together and all the flour is mixed in. Gather the dough and knead it on a lightly floured surface. If it’s too sticky add a little flour. Knead for about 5 minutes until smooth. Shape into a ball and cover with plastic wrap. Let rest at room temp for 30 minutes.

Cut the dough into four pieces. Work with one piece at a time and keep the other pieces covered in plastic wrap. Flatten the dough into a rough rectangle, and roll through the pasta machine, changing the numbers from thick to thinner (lower to higher) one at a time until you reach the second to last setting.

Lay the sheet on a table. Using a pizza cutter or knife, cut into 1 inch by 1 inch squares (doesn’t have to be perfect!) Turn square so that you’re looking at a diamond shape. Using a pencil (or other small wooden rod) gently fold the bottom point of the diamond around the pencil. Then lay pencil and dough on a gnocchi board. Roll up the rest of the dough onto the pencil while pressing it on the gnocchi board until you form a tube. Gently slide the tube off the pencil and repeat with the rest of the dough. Place finished garganelli on a floured sheet pan.

Make the Sauce:  Slice the artichokes hearts into 4 or 5 slices per heart. Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet. Add the shallot and pancetta. Cook until shallot is softened and pancetta is cooked through. Add the sliced artichoke hearts. Add a little more olive oil if too dry. Cook, stirring, for about 10 minutes on medium heat. Season with salt & pepper. Add cream and toss to coat.

When pasta is done, reserve a half cup of pasta water, then drain pasta and add pasta to skillet with artichoke sauce. Stir to coat pasta and cook for 2-3 minutes until flavors combine. Add a little pasta water if it needs moistening. Serve hot. Add some grated cheese to individual servings.

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Roman Peas w Asparagus & Pancetta Recipe

Roman Peas & Asparagus

Roman Peas & Asparagus

Ahhh. A simple but luscious vegetable dish from Rome. Roman Peas with Asparagus & Pancetta. So easy to make and so satisfying.

Slice a medium onion into thin half-moons. Saute in a little olive oil. Add diced pancetta (from about 3 thick slices) and saute till they cook through and onions soften. Add asparagus that has been cut into bite-sized pieces. Cook about 3-4 minutes. Add peas, cook till simmering. Add about a 1/4 cup of white wine. Cook till evaporating. Season with salt & pepper.

Easy. All these flavors come together creating a palate piazza where your taste buds congregate on their Roman passagiata and say: “Che Buono!”

Roman Peas and Asparagus