This is another gem of a recipe that comes from my favorite cookbook, Breaking Bread in L’Aquila. We modified this one to substitute bacon and changed the cooking order so that the bacon and tomatoes stay firm.
One of the best parts of this recipe is that it is so simple. We can’t find fresh peas here in Austin, TX, so we always go with the frozen peas. As for the protein, we go with bacon. I mean, who doesn’t like bacon. I know guanciale isn’t the same as bacon but it’s the closest you can find here in Austin. We also found that adding the bacon at the end gives a crispier bacon which gives a nice texture since the rest of the dish is so soft.
We made this batch for a Sunday dinner with friends where we made pasta and mixed the piselli e guanciale with the pasta.
This should serve 6 – 8 people.
Ingredients
- 2 to 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 4 ounces of bacon (or guanciale), chopped
- 2 medium onions, chopped
- 1 pound of peas, frozen or fresh
- 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
- Salt & fresh ground pepper, to taste
Instructions
Start by cooking the chopped bacon in a frying pan. Once it is fully cooked, remove the bacon but leave the oil in the pan. Add your chopped onion to the frying pan with the bacon grease. If you need extra liquid, add the olive oil. You only need the olive oil if you don’t have enough bacon grease to use for your sauted onions. Heat the frying pan with the bacon grease and olive oil over medium-high heat. Once it’s heated, add the onion and saute until the onion starts to turn translucent. This should take about 5 minutes.
Stir the peas into the sauted onions. Continue cooking for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the peas are warmed and still plump. Now, add the cooked chopped bacon and the tomatoes and mix together. Taste the dish and then season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Serve warm as a side dish. Alternatively, you can use this mixture as a topping for pasta as a main course.