Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Peas and Pancetta (or Bacon)

Raise your hand if you've ever heard someone say the holidays are not the time to try new recipes... Yep, mine is up too. Add to that, if my boys had it their way we'd have the same five dinners in rotation every Sunday... Forget about changing a holiday menu! Well, I saved this Peas and Pancetta recipe over a year ago and decided to try it on Easter *insert gasp here*. Not only were the peas not the petite canned variety, I immediately heard "do I smell orange?". Does anyone else remember the days when you couldn't shovel strained squash into their mouths fast enough??? Yea, long gone...
Back to these peas, I took some liberties with the recipe and used bacon instead of pancetta and frozen peas instead of fresh. (Please note this pic was of the leftovers reheated, kinda had a busy Sunday...) I love peas and bacon and found these very flavorful, liked the orange (but would cut the zest in half) and would make them again. I do suggest saving them for a day when you're serving a meat, a veggie and a starch, not a big holiday meal, you'll thank me for that:@)

Peas and Pancetta-from Michael Simon via Food Network Magazine, April 2013
1/4 pound pancetta, diced, (about 1 C)-I used bacon
1 shallot, sliced
1 tsp garlic, minced
grated zest and juice of an orange
3 C fresh shelled peas (about 1 lb)-I used frozen, thawed
1/4 C fresh parsley, chopped-ooops, forgot that
1 Tblsp butter
Kosher salt if needed-I did add a few grinds of black pepper too
  1. Cook pancetta in large skillet over medium-low heat until crispy, about 5 minutes.
  2. Add shallot and garlic, cook one minute and add orange juice.
  3. Increase heat to medium, add peas and cook until tender, about 3 minutes. (I covered the skillet for the frozen peas and cooked them longer.)
  4. Remove the pan from heat and stir in the zest, parsley and butter. Add salt if desired.
Try something new and have a happy day:@)

15 comments:

  1. Peas and pancetta seem like a perfect match and bacon is always welcome in any food combination in my house :)
    Sam

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  2. This looks like a great combo of flavors Lynn, and everything is better with bacon or pancetta :)

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  3. I could eat a big bowl of this as a meal and need nothing else. Looks delicious!

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  4. Looks really good - will have to try it. Thanks so much for the recipe.
    Have a great week.
    Mary

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  5. Looks yummy. Peas are a hard vegie to spruce up, but this is worth a try. Thanks.

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  6. I love peas! They are my favorite "green" vegetable! =)
    Your recipe looks great!

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  7. The peas and bacon dish looks great to me, Lynn. Did the boys like it? I love trying out new dishes and yes, even during holidays. It just makes life fun! I'd love being your guinea :@.

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  8. I have a daughter who believes that anything in the entire world can be made just a little more delicious by adding bacon. She would love this one, I think, since she's a big pea eater too.

    (And yes, my hand was raised. Did you see it? )

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  9. Bacon just makes everything better! Glad you had a nice Easter.

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  10. You crack me up, Lady! This looks really yummy...I love veggies of any kind & adding bacon is just the icing on the cake...so to speak.

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  11. Such a lovely side! It would be an excellent dish for company, too!

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  12. What a great combination! I prefer bacon to pancetta anway :)

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  13. I can't imagine any male complaining about BACON in their vegetables!! I think it sounds divine, especially with shallot and orange, yum! Glad you had a wonderful family Easter!
    Jenna

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  14. Peas and pancetta is such an Italian thing, trust me I'm Italian. I like how you made it your own by using bacon. Nice recipe!

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