This savory pasta with peas is very popular staple in the Italian American kitchen! With only a few ingredients, you can have this one pot recipe ready in less than 30 minutes!
A few reasons I love this dish:
- Easy to make
- Comes together quickly!
- Cheap ingredients but not junky
- Contains unfussy staple ingredients that are easy to keep on hand
- So easy to customize!
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Pasta with peas! I’ve been eating this dish for as long as I can remember because my mom made it for me when I was a little kiddo. And we still make it!
This is one of those Italian comfort food dishes that is so easy to make and is also easy to customize.
Some Italian Americans make this dish with a red sauce; our version is not red, it is served with chicken broth or vegetable broth or plain (ie, no broth).
Ingredients
- Pasta – I used small shells but elbow pasta would also work or you can break spaghetti up into smalls pieces before boiling.
- Peas – I prefer fresh frozen but you can use whatever you have on hand/like.
- Onion – this lends a wonderful sweetness that I believe pairs so well with peas!
- Olive oil
- Red pepper flakes (just a pinch; completely optional)
- Not shown: (for topping) grated cheese, toasted breadcrumbs, freshly ground black pepper, and/or cooked and crumbled bacon or pancetta (all optional, to taste)
Steps
- Add olive oil to large pan along with red pepper and saute about 1 minute over medium heat until fragrant.
- Then add diced onion and continue cooking for about 3 or 4 more minutes OR until onion becomes translucent and starts to darken a little bit.
- Add frozen peas (or canned if using) with a cup of water and heat for about 5 to 10 minutes until peas have defrosted and are tender. Add salt and pepper. If you like peas that are very tender, I recommend cooking the peas longer (low and slow), up to 15 or 20 minutes over very low heat. You may have to add more water if the mixture dries out.
- Add pasta and then pour just enough more water into the pan to barely cover the pasta and peas.
- Give everything a good stir, cover, bring to a boil and cook pasta according to instructions (typically 9 to 11 minutes).
- When pasta is finished cooking, ladle into bowls, and add chicken broth if desired.
- Optional: Drizzle with additional olive oil, fresh black pepper, grated cheese, and/or toasted break crumbs.
Enjoy!
Substitutions
- Vegan – top with nutritional yeast instead of grated cheese.
- Broth – may use chicken broth (traditional), vegetable broth, or no broth (make sure to reserve pasta water if not using broth in case mixture becomes too dry).
- Peas – may use either frozen or canned.
- Pasta – may use any kind of pasta (gluten free or traditional). I like smaller sized pasta which is traditional for pasta with peas or you may break spaghetti into small pieces.
Variations
- Spicy – add more red pepper flakes while cooking to imbue heat into the dish, or just a bit of diced banana peppers.
- Deluxe – add more peas, and/or add prosciutto, pancetta, bacon or ham. And/or, deglaze the pan after cooking peas with a glass of red or white wine. Make sure to cook off the alcohol for a few minutes before proceeding with next step of adding/cooking pasta.
- Red Sauce – add crushed or regular tomato sauce before adding water to boil pasta.
Serving and storage
- Please note that the pasta will continue to absorb broth or extra pasta water so this is best served immediately after making. If making ahead, loosely drain any extra pasta water and/or do not add broth until ready to eat.
- Store the broth separately from the pasta and peas in the fridge, and recombine when ready. Good for 2-3 days.
- These ingredients don’t stand up well to freezing as the pasta will become mushy.
Top tips
Don’t overcook the pasta! Pasta always continues to cook a bit while it’s still hot and it will continue to absorb the broth or pasta water if it’s left sitting in liquid.
Season well – test for enough salt, pepper and add grated cheese to taste. I also love to finish this dish with a nice drizzle of olive oil.
Avoid dryness: Serve immediately after cooking. If that’s not possible, reserve some pasta water (ladle some out into a Ball jar if you have one) to add when serving OR heat up some chicken or vegetable broth on the side to add just before serving. Also drizzle liberally with olive oil.
Instant Pot Instructions
- Using the saute feature, cook the onions with red pepper flake and olive oil until the onions is translucent and starts to brown just a bit.
- Add pasta, peas, and add just enough water to cover ingredients.
- Cook on manual pressure for 4 minutes.
- Use quick release and add warm chicken or vegetable broth if desired
- Top with grated cheese, black pepper, toasted breadcrumbs or leftover chopped bacon.
More Pasta Recipes….
Pasta with Peas (Easy, One Pot Cooking)
This savory pasta with peas is very popular staple in the Italian kitchen! With only a few ingredients, you can have this one pot version ready in less than 30 minutes!
Ingredients
- 1 pound pasta in the US, 1 box is usually 1 pound
- 4 cups peas 12 ounce bag has about 2 cups peas; cans have about 1.5 cups each. (more is fine!)
- 1 large onion diced (I like to use sweet onion)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp salt add more to taste
- black pepper to taste
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes optional
Optional for serving
- 4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
- grated cheese parmesan or locatelli
- toasted breadcrumbs
- bacon, ham, pancetta may be cooked to use as topping or cooked with onions and added when cooking pasta and peas.
Instructions
- Add olive oil to large pan along with red pepper if using and saute about 1 minute over medium heat until fragrant.
- Then add diced onion and continue cooking for about 3 or 4 more minutes OR until onion becomes translucent and starts to darken just a little bit.
- Add frozen peas (or canned if using) to pan, 1 cup of water (for frozen peas) and heat for about 3 minutes until peas have heated through (canned) or 10 to 20 minutes (frozen) until level of tenderness is reached.
- Continue adding some water to keep the mixture from drying out and also to help tenderize peas and impart the onion flavor to the mixture.
- Add dried pasta to pan and then pour just enough water into the pan to barely cover the pasta and peas and add the salt.
- Give everything a good stir, cover, bring to a boil and cook pasta according to instructions (typically 9 to 11 minutes). You may uncover or place lid ajar after the mixture comes to a boil.
- Taste mixture and add black pepper and additional salt to taste.
- When pasta is finished cooking, ladle pasta with peas into bowls, and add chicken broth if desired.
- Optional: Drizzle with additional olive oil, fresh black pepper, grated cheese, and/or toasted bread crumbs.
Notes
Instant Pot Instructions:
- Using the saute feature, cook the onions with red pepper flake and olive oil.
- Add pasta, peas, and add just enough water to cover ingredients.
- Cook on manual pressure for 4 minutes.
- Use quick release
- Serve with chicken or vegetable broth if desired
- Top with grated cheese, black pepper, and/or breadcrumbs (breadcrumbs not recommended with broth).
Nutrition
Calories: 222kcalCarbohydrates: 31gProtein: 10gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gSodium: 605mgPotassium: 786mgFiber: 10gSugar: 15gVitamin A: 1638IUVitamin C: 69mgCalcium: 60mgIron: 3mg
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