Pea season is in full swing here in DC and I couldn’t be happier. Peas are one of my favorite vegetables and I practically OD on them when they are in season. Last year, I froze a huge batch of fresh English peas which lasted me almost all Winter. But nothing beats picking up a big container of fresh peas from the market on a Saturday morning. Last Saturday, Garner’s Produce had English peas in the pod for the first time this season. Although I like shelling peas, I was happy to pick up two boxes of shelled peas for a recipe I saw online during Snowpocalypse. The recipe was from one of my favorite celebrity chefs, Mario Batali.
Mario’s recipes always highlight the flavors of his ingredients, letting the most mundane of them shine brightly. I admit peas are not all that glamorous…they tend to get the short end of the stick really. Whenever you see a child on television, gloomily sitting over his half eaten dinner, there’s a high chance peas are on his plate. I personally blame that kid’s parents for this situation. Peas, when not properly cooked, can taste bland and downright mushy. But when you do right by them, they will do right by you. And this recipe truly knows how to seduce the lovely flavors from fresh peas.
I whipped this dish up for dinner tonight in less than 40 minutes…BUT I made my pappardelle from scratch. If you just use store bought pasta, this comes together in under 20 minutes. If you don’t have access to fresh peas, frozen will do in a pinch. But for the love of God, stay away from those canned monstrosities in the “vegetable” aisle of the grocery store. Trust me on that one…
Recipe: Papperdelle with Peas and Parmesan (recipe by Mario Batali)
Ingredients
- 3 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 medium onion, finely diced
- 1 tbs honey
- 3 cups fresh peas (or frozen)
- 3 tbs unsalted butter
- 1 lb fresh homemade pappardelle (here’s a good tutorial for making homemade pappardelle) or 1 lb dried fettucine
- 1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
- 1/2 cup packed fresh basil leaves, diced
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Once the oil starts to smoke, add the onion, honey and 2 cups of the fresh peas.
- Cook until the peas and onion are tender, about 10 minutes. Remove the peas and onion from the heat and allow to cool slightly.
- Place the pea mixture in the food processor and pulse until chunky but well blended. Salt and pepper the mixture to your taste and set it aside.
- Place a large pot of water on the stove over high heat for the pasta.
- While waiting for the water to come to a boil, melt the butter in the skillet over medium high heat. Add the remaining peas and cook until the peas are tender (about 5 minutes). Stir the peas occasionally to make sure they don’t stick. Add the pureed peas to the cooked peas and stir to incorporate. Set it aside.
- Once the water starts to boil, salt it and add the pasta. Cook the pasta until it’s al dente and reserve two cups of the pasta water.
- Add a 1/2 cup of the pasta water to the pea puree and stir to loosen the sauce. Keep adding some of the remaining reserved pasta water until it reaches your desired consistency.
- Drain the rest of the water from the pasta and add it to the pea sauce. Toss the pasta with the peas until well coated.
- Plate the pasta and top with some of the Parmigiano-Reggiano and some of the diced basil leaves (I chopped my basil into a chiffonade).
Number of servings (yield): 4
Meal type: dinner
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
ok, remember that time when you offered to show me how to make pasta? I would like to take you up on that. Although I am pretty sure I have never heard of pappardelle, it looks amazing! <3
You got it! Just name the day and time and I’ll happily teach you!
looks excellente! I’ve been trying to read this all day today, but since I’ve had patients it’s had to wait! i need to make some fresh pasta – it’s been a while
@ Heather – Haha! You need to have your priorities corrected: blog reading FIRST
I have peas growing in my garden, but there never seems to be enough. I need to freeze some for the winter! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for linking to my recipe – I’m glad you tried it out! Your pappardelle look really thin and light!