When someone says comfort food to you, what does that mean to you? Maybe its that favorite recipe your mom used to make and you would eat 2 even 3 plates because it was so good. For me, I think the movie Ratatouille sums it up best in the scene where the harsh food critic tastes the basic dish made by Remy the rat chef. In that scene, he gets a flashback to when he was just a child, coming home tired and his mother placing a steaming delicious plate of ratatouille in front of him. He instantly gobbles up the rest of the food because of the emotions it provoked.
To me, that comfort food is this Pea and Pancetta pasta dish. There is nothing like eating this dish on a cold, rainy day and it provokes indescribable emotions for me. During the cooking process, the pasta releases its wonderful starches turning the liquid boiling water into a thick creamy pasta dish. When topped with some pepper and parmigiano reggiano cheese, this dish is like no other. With seemingly simple ingredients, this dish is a classic Italian home-cooking dish that you wont necessarily find in a restaurant, but definitely in mamma’s kitchen.
As you can notice from the pictures, I used a variety of pastas for this dish. When I was in Italy, mixed pasta was conveniently sold and used widely however I was unable to find it anywhere here in Idaho. Instead I improvised and used whatever pasta was in my pantry. For this recipe I used the following pastas: Barilla Spaghetti Pasta, Barilla Medium Shells and 
Pea and Pancetta Mixed Pasta
Equipment
- Large pot
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 5 oz pancetta
- 1/2 whole onion
- 15 oz sweet peas
- 135 grams Barilla Medium Shells
- 135 grams Barilla Spaghetti
- 135 grams Barilla Ditalini
- ½ tsp salt
- pepper
- parmigiano reggiano cheese
Instructions
- Dice the onion into small pieces.
- Dice the pancetta into small strips if it isn't already done so.
- Place the olive oil, pancetta, and onions into a large pot. Cook on a medium-high heat for 5 minutes stirring occasionally.
- Once the pancetta and onions are done cooking, strain the sweet peas and add them to the pot.
- Cook for another 2 minutes.
- Add enough water to the pot to cover the peas and pancetta. Bring the water to a boil.
- Once the water is boiling, add the pasta to the water and add more if needed if the water doesn't completely cover the pasta.
- Cook the pasta for 12 minutes stirring often to prevent the pasta from sticking to the pan. Add 1/2 tsp of salt to the pasta while it is cooking.
- Once the time is up, add a sprinkle of pepper and grate some parmigiano reggiano cheese on top. Buon Appetito!
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