Pasta with Peas and Pancetta

The other day sucked. We'd been inside the house for countless days (thank you Quarantine) the skies were a gloomy gray, and there was a serious void where my inspiration for cooking used to be. Normally, I draw my cooking inspiration from the most beautiful ingredients of the season, languishing over the perky greens and blues that dazzle the passersby at the market, but this season has left me a little bereft of those experiences, what with being stuck inside on a limited budget and all. But my hunger was growling and there was no more time for self-pity. So I opened the freezer and cupboards to see what I could find and behold! Frozen peas and a packet of pancetta that may have been in there for a year, but whatever. We had exactly two boxes of pasta in the cupboard, so hooray for choices! Add a shallot, clove of garlic, a bit of butter, and the zest of a lemon about to turn and voilà: luxury. The dish was quite tasty, momentarily revived my cooking spirit, and reminded me that the most satisfying of flavors quite often stem from the most humble of beginnings.

Peas and Pancetta Pasta Recipe

Fill a large pot with water, add a handful of salt, and bring to the boil and cook according to the box instructions:
1 box of your favorite pasta

While your pasta is cooking, Put a large skillet over medium heat and add:
a package (8 oz) sliced (or diced) pancetta
Sauté until mid-way to crispy (about 3 minutes), then move the pieces to the side to create a little spot in the center to add
1 Tablespoon-ish lump of butter
and immediately after and right on top of the butter, add
1 shallot, sliced
1 clove of garlic, sliced
a pinch of salt
Let the shallot, garlic, and butter meld together and smell gorgeous for about 30 seconds before mixing it all around in the pan with the pancetta

Continue to cook over medium to medium-low heat until the pancetta is crispy about 5 minutes at which time you will share some of the white wine that I hope you're drinking and pour about a half glass into the skillet. You may need to adjust the heat to bring the liquid to a simmer,

Then Add
the zest of 1 lemon and
1 c of the pasta water
and let simmer to thicken up a bit. You may need to add more pasta water a bit at a time to get a more saucy consistency- you really just have to trust your own good judgement on this matter.

Finally, when the pasta is about 1-2 minutes from being done, add
about 1 c frozen peas

Then taste the sauce to be sure that you like it, and make seasoning adjustments as needed.
Strain your pasta, mix it with the sauce, and generously grate with parmesan (if you have it).

Now, pour yourself another glass of wine and enjoy!

Suggested wine pairings:
For this type of a dish, where there is a salty element from the pasta water and pancetta, but a brightness from the lemon and wine in the sauce, accompanied by a sort of bright earthy element from the peas, and a luxurious component from the butter, I would encourage you to consider wines that are lighter in body, but still have some weight to them on the palate and potentially have a small presence of tannins.

The fat from the butter and pancetta will round-out the tannins, but because it is represented in such a small percentage of the overall dish, I would veer away from heavily tannic wines (like Cabernet and Syrah) and instead opt for delicate and light bodied reds (like Pinot and Gamay) or heavy-bodied reds with a medium acidity.

Full-bodied whites and medium acid, such as
Oaked Chardonnay
Marsanne, Roussane, Viognier, southern Rhône white blends
Verdelho
7-10+ aged Chardonnay, Gewurtztraminer, Kabinett Riesling
Rosés
Light-bodied and medium to high acid reds, such as:
Gamay (Cru Beaujolais), Valdigué, some young Carignans (1-3 years old), Pinot Noir