Pleasing peas

Photo courtesy of photobucket.com

For those of you who have been wondering why nothing has appeared on this blog lately...

I've gone on sabbatical with my husband, who really does have a sabbatical. While he's been researching and writing, I've been busy doing things to get our Sacramento house ready for our next tenant and help our current renter move out. I continue that project today.

But I did actually cook lunch yesterday, so I thought I'd share the results and jot down the recipe. I hope to be back blogging daily by mid-August.

Pasta with fresh peas and bacon
Serves 4 (lunch or first course portions)

Ingredients
2 quarts water
Salt
1/2 pound pasta (I used a combination of farfalle-bowties and strozzapreti)
1 pound English pea pods (a little over 1 cup shelled)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup crumbled bacon
1/2 cup Parmesan, grated
Pinch of smoked salt (optional)
Freshly ground pepper to taste

Instructions
Boil the water in a large pot, salted (or not) to taste. Check on the pasta bag for the cooking times; in my case, the bowties were to cook 9-10 minutes and the strozzapreti 7-8 minutes. So I put in the farfalle first, set the timer for 2 minutes, then added the strozzapretit and set the timer for 7 minutes.

About 5 minutes before the pasta is done, add the fresh peas to the boiling water.

Drain the cooked pasta and peas, put the pot back on the stove on simmer and add 2 tablespoons of the oil. Put the drained pasta and peas back into the pot and coat with the rest of the olive oil.

If you are using cooked bacon bits that you keep in the fridge or freezer, line an ovenproof cup with a paper towel and pour in the measured bacon. Microwave for about a minute, remove the paper towel from the cup and squeeze to remove as much grease as possible (you may need to wrap the towel in a second paper towel, since it will be hot and greasy). Add to the oiled peas and pasta and toss well. Season with the smoked salt, if using, and pepper. Remove from heat.

Add the cheese, toss well again and serve.