Comfort Food Friday
Hello! Today I am sharing the super quick and easy pasta recipe for what my family affectionately calls "the pea pasta". I used to make this pasta years ago on a regular basis and then it dropped out of the rotation for reasons I do not recall. I recently started making it again and it has become a crowd pleaser around here. Win-win for ease and taste. It is based on the ingredients in a recipe that I found years ago, I changed the steps to make it all around though, and for the better if I do so say myself!
I hope you will give it a try.
Here is the recipe in pictures:
The ingredients needed. It is easiest if you are able to find pre-diced prosciutto, if not, you will need to roughly chop the prosciutto, preferably starting with thick cuts/slab from the deli counter. The traditional thin prosciutto works as well (it tastes the same, as moms like to say!) and it browns more quickly.
I did not take a picture of the water pot specifically being set to boil, you can see it in the background here though. You want the water boiling and ready to go so that the pasta is finished cooking at the same time the sauce is. That way everything is hot and ready to go at the same time.
Brown the prosciutto in olive oil.
Add the sliced garlic and cook for a minute. If you cook it too long, the garlic will burn.
Add in the frozen peas and cook, stirring occasionally, for about five minutes so that the peas are no longer frozen. When the peas are no longer cold, it is time to start cooking the pasta.
Add in the heavy cream.
Add in the chicken stock (I just use the same measuring cup).
Bring to a boil.
Boil at a fairly good rate until the sauce reduces some, appears creamy, and begins to thicken slightly. The time it takes to cook the cream sauce should align almost exactly with the time it takes to cook and drain the pasta.
Drain the cooked pasta and add back to the warm pot. Pour the cream sauce over the pasta.
Stir over low heat until well incorporated. If the cream sauce is a bit liquid-y, stir over simmer until it reduces and thickens a bit more. Add salt and pepper to taste and stir in parmesan if desired. I do not add the parmesan to the entire pot because that ingredient is not a crowd pleaser in my house.
I add a good dose of parmesan on top (for mine!) and it is ready to go.
Cooking this pasta from start to finish takes no more than twenty-five minutes so it is a great, warm, easy weeknight meal. It is even better served with bread on the side.
Bon appétit.
Thank you for reading today,
Kerry
