Pasta Dr. Suess
This pasta dish reminds me of “Green Eggs and Ham” of which, like most American mothers, I can still quote great swaths of text. I could see it coming, but I was unable to help myself going greener, greener, greener because I knew it would taste so good.
Green pasta and ham
This to me is really pasta primavera. This is made of what there really is in spring if you don’t live in Eden. Everybody made bacon in December and January, peas are up in the South, and cream cheese never goes all the way out of style. It will take as long to cook as boiling the water and cooking the pasta takes. Unless you are using fresh peas in the shell, in which case your reward for the extra ten minutes is what will happen in your mouth. This is fast Slow Food: genuine, made from scratch and unaffected by additives and preservatives. Save this recipe for when your CSA boxes arrive with the early peas.
Pasta Dr. Suess
To serve 2 (adjust up or down with confidence)
4 ounces or 115 g of a compact pasta such as penne, casareccia, etc.
about 1 tablespoon olive oil
2 ounces 60 g cubed pancetta or salty ham
1 small red chili pepper, skin broken (optional, but I think it added a lot)
1 cup or 250 ml peas, fresh or frozen
3 ounces or 85 g cream cheese or formaggio fresco in Italy
1 or 2 tablespoons basil pesto—your own from the freezer or bought. Don’t let it overwhelm!
Bring a lot of salted water to a boil. When it boils, throw in the pasta and give it a couple of stirs.
Heat a frying pan with the olive oil in it, then toss in the cubed pancetta or ham, the peas and the chili pepper and fry them. When the meat looks a bit cooked, add a ladle (about .5 cup or 125 ml) of the pasta water, turn down the heat and let it simmer. Just a minute before your pasta should be done, stir in the cheese, then the pesto. If it is thicker than natural heavy cream, add a bit more pasta water to loosen it up.
Peasy peasy
When the pasta is al dente, drain it and put it into the sauce pan, stirring and tossing for a minute. Taste it to check for seasoning. Mine needed absolutely nothing. Serve it smoking hot.
I think we will shoot this off to Presto Pasta Night, which will be published Friday on “Food Hunter”s Guide to Cuisine, because Ruth in Canada must really be ready for spring. Just for kicks I added up what this cost per person to make. For the ingredients I bought– the pesto was homemade and leftover– it was about 90 centesimi per serving, or US$1.15. Beat that!
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It looks wonderful, and very kid friendly …make that kids of every age. And wow to the price! Of course if I actually wanted to make some pesto these days – basil being extremely hard to find and hugely expensive here in Halifax…It would probably cost 10 times that.
Thanks for sharing with PResto Pasta Nights. Of course, now I’ll never get Dr Seuss out of my head!
This looks delicious. I make a similar dish with pancetta and peas but I use cream and no pesto, and I’ve always felt like something was lacking. I’m going to try this next time instead.
This looks great. Thanks for sending it in to Presto Pasta Nights.
Thank you very much! I made it for our tea tonight (well, almost; fussy children meant I was leaving out meat here and chilli there, so I forgot the pesto). It was indeed delicious. I multiplied by 3 for our family of 6 people and it worked out perfectly!
Thanks for the report, Fiona. Some things multiply perfectly and some have to be changed a lot. In this case I think one could skip increasing the oil endlessly, but it does carry the flavors into the pasta. Wait til you try it with pesto!
Like KC, I make something similar but I’m definitely going to try your version. It sounds delicious.
I have a friend who is a fabulous cook, but when peas are in season she makes pasta with tuna, peas and tomato. I have never seen the point of that dish. Meh.