Simplest, creamiest and delicious
Nonnina’s Pasta e Piselli is a bright and delicious example of cucina povera, the Italian philosophy of making something out of nothing. This nutrient-dense dish uses affordable ingredients like pasta, peas, onion and oil to make a meal that’s good for you and the planet. It has a long history in Naples and the Campania region, where it was a staple in the working-class household. Their ingredient list is short and sweet. The ingredient list is as pantry-friendly as they come, which means it’s as accessible as a weekday recipe could be. Fresh peas are a seasonal spring ingredient, but if you use frozen or dried peas, you can make this dish year-round. You can adapt the texture to your liking, keeping it soupier (minestra) or a bit sludgier and sturdy, depending on the amount of water you add. Pasta e Piselli is like many of those other Italian staples — Pasta e Patate, Pasta e Fagioli — in that it comprises affordable foods you can count on for hearty satisfaction. This recipe was typically meatless, great on Lent or any Friday when meat was not allowed. The classical flavours would have been the onion and olive oil
And home cooks (and then chefs) reinvented it with nubby bites of pancetta, grated Parmesan, and a splash of butter, as the post-World War II economy recovered and people loosened up and decided that if an ingredient was, in fact, good, twice as much couldn’t be bad. Today, however, Pasta e Piselli is revered as a one-pot dish which embodies the essence of seasonality, usefulness and the peasant traditions of Italian cooking.
Ingredients
- Olive oil
- White/Red onion (finely chopped)
- Garlic
- Salt
- Black pepper (to taste)
- Green peas
- Small pasta
- Vegetable stock
- Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
- Fresh parsley or any herb (for garnishing)
Step 1: Take a deep pan and put olive oil in it, and let it heat on medium flame. Further add in your chopped onions and sauté them for a few minutes (until the onions get translucent). Add in finely chopped garlic if you want, or you can even skip it
Step 2: Add in fresh green peas or frozen boiled peas to the pan after this. Stir it and let it cook until the firmness of the peas goes away
Step 3: Turn off the gas and set aside this mixture to let it cool. Once it reaches room temperature, separate the pea mixture into two halves (one for the puree and the other for the pasta) in different bowls. Blend one-half of the mixture and make a smooth paste
Step 4: Now, add vegetable broth or water to a skillet and let it boil. Once the broth starts to boil, add in your uncooked pasta. Stir it from time to time until the pasta is 80% cooked
Step 5: Once the pasta is cooked, drain the remaining water into a bowl and save it for later
Step 6: Put the cooked pasta back into the pot and add in pea puree, followed by the cooked onion and pea mixture. For creaminess, add in grated cheese and salt, followed by pepper
Tips
- You can also top it up with boiled and seasoned broccoli
- Keeping it in an airtight container in the refrigerator can help prevent it from spoiling for three days
- You can reheat the pasta with a little splash of water in the pan, and then put the refrigerated pasta back in and let it defrost by stirring
