Pea Pancetta Pasta
A quick and easy weeknight pasta that’s packed full of flavor, our Pea Pancetta Pasta combines sweet peas with salty pancetta and the perfect panko crunch for a 25-minute orecchiette pasta recipe you’ll want to add to your regular rotation!
Next, try our Pea Prosciutto Salad!
I love an alliteration, don’t you? Our latest pasta dish has it all, peas, pancetta, and panko! This new Pea Pancetta Pasta does in fact taste as good as it all sounds together. Sweet peas. Salty crispy pancetta. Buttery crunchy panko breadcrumbs. Finished with Parmesan cheese and all served with the underutilized pasta, orecchiette. The best part of this weeknight orecchiette pasta recipe? It’s ready in under 30 minutes.
This is a pasta dish that feels “light” because it’s not a super “saucy” pasta that’s still incredibly flavorful. Finishing the pasta in the pan ensures that all of that flavor is imparted into the pasta without having a heavily sauced dish. It’s the perfect fast and easy weeknight pasta when I want a pasta dish but not one that’ll feel super heavy and overly filling.
Ingredients Needed
- Orecchiette – This is a favorite for this dish because (as my 4-year-old loves to point out), they’re like little bowls for the peas and pancetta. You can of course use any kind of pasta you’d like, but this is definitely our favorite for this dish.
- Pancetta – Ahh the Italian cured pork belly. Unlike bacon, pancetta is not smoked and is cured with salt and spices which gives it the delightful salty flavor that adds so much depth to dishes.
- Peas – Not only do they just sound so good with pancetta (and tastes even better!) but they’re a favorite veggie in our house and they add the right amount of sweetness to balance the salty pancetta. We use frozen peas for this recipe and just add them right in frozen, no thawing required.
- Panko Breadcrumbs and Butter – Now this is what takes this dish to the next level. These buttery crispy breadcrumbs add the perfect finishing texture.
- Chicken Stock – A little added flavor with some starchy reserved pasta water will finish cooking the pasta in the pan.
- Seasonings – Salt, onion and garlic powder, basil, oregano, and parsley.
- Parmesan Cheese – The perfect salty cheesy finish to compliment all of the other flavors of this easy pancetta pasta.
Ready in Under 30 Minutes
Toasted Panko Breadcrumbs
The first step is toasting the panko breadcrumbs in some butter to add an absolutely delicious crunchy finish to this Pea Pancetta Pasta! It’s definitely a step you don’t want to skip in this orecchiette pasta recipe.
We love our go-to Finex cast iron skillet for this dish, because cast iron is just our preferred method of cooking, but you can of course use any of your favorite at least 12 in skillet.
Cook the Pancetta and Peas
While the pasta is cooking, give that pancetta a fry in the same pan as the toasted panko breadcrumbs. Add the peas, chicken stock and some of that pasta water and bring it all to a gentle boil.
Add Pasta and Cheese
Add the cooked pasta to the peas and pancetta and let boil for another minute to finish the pasta and cook off the liquid before adding the Parmesan cheese to melt into the dish.
Top with the panko breadcrumbs and done! Pea Pancetta Pasta with panko breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese, an unintential ode to all things delicious that start with P.
Recipe Notes
Of course! We love to use panko bread crumbs (Japanese-style bread crumbs) because they’re made from bread without crusts that produce a dryer, airier, and flakier breadcrumb. But you can also of course use your favorite regular bread crumbs, too.
Translated in Italian, orecchiette means “little ears” because of their shape. It is a shape of pasta that orginated in Southern Italy and is a great compliment to the ingredients in this dish. But of course, you can use your favorite pasta for this as well.
Pancetta is an Italian style salt cured pork belly. It differs from bacon in that it is not smoked, therefore, does not add the same smoky flavor bacon will add, but instead, because it’s salt cured for so long and with additional seasonings, it adds so much depth of flavor to any dish.
After you’ve cooked your pancetta, spoon out a majority of the grease, but leave a little to add a ton of flavor to this pasta!
This is what helps finish cooking the pasta in the pan with all of the peas, pancetta, and flavor! Plus, as a general rule, adding a little pasta water to your cooked pasta will help it stick to the sauce. While this pasta isn’t a “saucy” pasta, it’s still an important step.
For the best melty cheese (and this goes for all recipes that you want the best melty cheese), it’s best to grate your own cheese and not buy preshredded. That’s because in those preshredded packages, there are anticlumping agents added that ultimately affect how the cheese melts.
Pea Pancetta Pasta is super fast and easy, but in order for it to be 30 minutes, you have to time it all right. The pancetta and peas dont take long to cook, so you’ll want to start your pasta water first. See the recipe notes for my timing tips.
Our Other Favorite Pasta Recipes
- 20 Minute Tomato Artichoke Pasta
- Tuna Pea Pasta
- Fresh Tomato Marinara Pasta
- One Pot 20 Minute Greek Pasta
- One Pot Creamy Broccoli Pasta
- Spinach Artichoke Pasta
Enjoy! As always, if you make this recipe or any of my others, I love to hear what you think! Leave a comment below, email me, or you can find me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest!
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Pea Pancetta Pasta
Equipment
- 10-12 inch skillet
- medium to large pot
Ingredients
- 8 oz orecchiette pasta 1/2 lb
- 4 oz diced pancetta
- 8 oz frozen peas 1 1/2 cups
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- 1/3 cup panko bread crumbs
- 3 cloves fresh garlic
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1/2 cup reserved pasta water
- 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese shredded
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Heat a medium to large sized pot of salted water on stove over high to bring to a boil. This can take up to 10 minutes.
- After about 4-5 minutes, add butter to a skillet and heat over medium. Once mostly melted, add panko bread crumbs and garlic and onion powder. Mix in butter then spread out in an even layer to toast 30-60 seconds, then mix to continue to toast for another 30-60 seconds until bread crumbs begin to brown. Remove bread crumbs from pan and set aside.
- In the same pan, add pancetta to fry for about 6 minutes. By now your pasta water should be boiling, add the orecchiette pasta to water and set timer for 1 minute less than the cooking time on box / container instructs (most of the time orecchiette pasta takes about 9-12 minutes, 9 being the most al dente, so we find 10 minutes the right amount of cooking time so we boil it for 9 minutes).
- Add fresh garlic and cook with pancetta for another minute or two until pancetta is fully cooked (browned and crisped). Stir often to prevent garlic from burning.
- Once pancetta is done, spoon out a majority of the grease, but leave about a tablespoon left.
- Add peas and give a quick mix with the pancetta (and grease) then add the chicken stock and ladle out a 1/2 cup of pasta water from your pasta (that should be just about done by now), and add to the skillet. Add parsley, oregano, basil, and salt to skillet.
- Drain pasta (don't rinse!).
- Turn up heat to medium high and bring everything in the skillet to a gentle boil, then add pasta to the skillet and mix. Let the pasta finish cooking in the skillet for another 1 minute. Test for doneness.
- Once pasta is done, turn heat down to medium low and add Parmesan cheese. Mix well.
- Add 1/2 of the panko breadcrumbs and mix. Serve and add the remaining bread crumbs to the plates. Enjoy!
I made it! Tasted great. Loved the breadcrumb addition as well 👌
I love to hear it, Bekah!! Thanks so much for sharing!
Such an amazing pasta recipe, it’s a unique and great concept! Loved it!