Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Taking The Peas For A Ride In A Cozy Little Shell


Another recipe from the road and another family favorite. Can you tell we ate a lot of macaroni/pasta* when we were growing up?

Pasta e Piselli (Pasta and Peas)

THE INGREDIENTS
1 medium onion, diced
1 can (6 oz.) Tomato Paste
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
1 box (1 lb.) of pasta (I use medium shells because I like the way the peas get caught in the shell, but you can use any small pasta)

THE PROCESS
1. In your macaroni pot, start boiling the water for your pasta. Open the can of tomato paste and the peas and set them aside.

2. In a saucepan, coat the bottom with olive oil. Put your onions in and brown them. You don’t have to get them ALL brown, but a few brown pieces add nicely to the flavor because they get sweeter as they caramelize.

3. Once the onions are browned, put in your can of tomato paste. Use the empty can to add three cans of water to the pot. Stir until the tomato paste is smooth and nice and liquidy. The tomatoes will probably make this salty enough and there is salt in your macaroni water, so I usually just add pepper. If you like your blood pressure nice and high, add as much salt as you want.

4. Let that pot simmer while you throw your pasta in the boiling water.

5. Just before the pasta is done, throw your can of peas into the pot with the tomatoes. You don’t want the peas to be in there too long or they’ll get mushy. Unless you’re teething, you don’t want them mushy.

6. When the macaroni is done, drain and throw it back into your big pot.

7. Dump the saucepan of tomato sauce and peas into your pasta and stir until it’s all mixed up. Watch how some of the peas jump into the little crevices of the shells. Isn’t that cool??

8. OK….now go eat!

* I'll be using the words
pasta and macaroni interchangeably. It's too hard for me to stick with one word all the way through.



Click HERE for a printable version of the recipe.

5 comments:

Jeni said...

Believe it or not, another pasta recipe is exactly what I need here. The two little grandkids -both autistic -have food issues. Ok, most people would say they are just picky eaters and that is a part of this but pasta is something I rarely have any problems getting them to eat so any new pasta recipes -for this family -is great, much needed, much appreciated too! (By Kurtis, Maya and me -Grammy J -who does most of the cooking in the household!)

Gil said...

Pasta & Peas! What a funny story I have to tell you. When we were kids in the 50's our play friends almost always were invited in to eat lunch or dinner when my Mother was ready to serve. Pasta and peas was on the menu frequently as the four of us would eat it with little fuss and the various friends thought it was a delicacy. One of the neighbors had two sons that ate with us often. Their Mom was Greek and their Dad Sicilian-American, Well no matter how their poor Mother tried to make her pasta and peas to her sons' satisfaction it never came out like my Mom's. The big complaint was the peas didn't get into to the shells like they did at Mrs M's house. The poor Mother ended up trying to put the peas in the shell one by one. God Bless the great lady!

I hope you are having good weather.

Anonymous said...

I love that kind of pasta that hides peas. lol. so cute. like little pea beds.

Texas Trucker said...

Looks scrumptious!

Anonymous said...

Wow, now are your expectations very high regarding my photography, hehe.

Just said to Texas Trucker: Thanks for leaving a reaction on my blog! I am looking forward to read about all your adventures. Can't imagine how life would feel like without a home and always be on the road. That's nice about the blogworld: you get to know a lot of life styles!