Bonus Recipe: Pasta Paglia e Fieno

I'm working on a recipe for a dish I'm calling "Macaroni and Peas," which is sort of a hybrid of a few different dishes, including stovetop macaroni and cheese, fettucine alfredo, and Roman-style carbonara.

It reminded me a great deal of a more obscure (in the US at least) dish called paglia e fiena (straw and hay), so named for its combination of plain pasta and green-colored pasta. It's made with peas and pancetta. It's generally a spring dish made with fresh peas, but frozen peas are fantastic in it and I feel like pasta in cream sauce is better as a fall or winter dish anyway. Here's that dish, and stay tuned for my evantual Mac and Peas dish which will appear int he NYT this month.

Ingredients:

Salt
1 pound (450g) long, flat dried pasta such as fettucine, linguine, or tagliatelle (a mix of plan and green if you want to stay true to the dish's namesake)

1 tablespoon (15ml) olive oil (any kind - doesn't have to be extra-virgin)

2-3 ounces (30-45g) of sliced pancetta, cut into thin ribbons

2 scallions, thinly sliced at a sharp bias

1 cup (240ml) heavy cream

1 cup (about 150g) frozen peas

2 ounces (about 3/4 cup, 60g) grated parmesan cheese, plus more for the table

Minced fresh parsley or chives (optional)

Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta, give it a stir, and let it cook until mostly done but still slightly chalky in the center, about 2 minutes less than the package directions. Drain, reserving at least a cup of the starchy pasta water.

2. While the pasta cooks, heat the olive oil and pancetta in a large straight-sided skillet or saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until the pancetta is just starting to brown along its edges, about 4 minutes. Add the scallions and cook, stirring, until lightly softened, about 30 seconds longer.

3. Add the cream and bring to a simmer. Let it simmer while the pasta finishes cooking.

4. When the pasta is cooked, add the cooked pasta, a half cup of the reserved pasta water, and the peas to the cream sauce. Increase heat to high and cook, stirring and tossing until the pasta is al dente and the sauce is creamy but not dry. (If it looks too dry, add more of the reserved pasta water, bearing in mind that it will get more dry once it hits the plate and starts to cool, so it should look a little too loose in the pan.)

5. Off heat, stir in the parmesan and chives or parsley (if using). Stir vigorously until the cheese is melted, adjusting the texture of the sauce with more pasta water as necessary. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately, adding more parmesan at the table.