This is a nice,light, sunny weather dish. Super quick, super easy – super tasty! Just what you need to enjoy the spring / summer weather – no stress!
The recipe is based on a Jamie Oliver recipe – Mini Shell Pasta with a creamy smoked Bacon and Pea Sauce.
Up front – I struggle to find Creme Fraiche where I live so I tend to replace it with Pantry Cream. Not the same but it works. Also, I use different pasta but I try to stick to smaller shapes, it somehow fits better. Lastly, depending on my mood I leave the bacon and have a light vegetarian dish instead.
Here we go now, based on the official recipe, serves 4-6 people.
Ingredients
10 slices smoked bacon
a small bunch of fresh mint
150gr Parmesan cheese
sea salt and ground black pepper
400gr dried mini shell or other type of pasta
olive oil
a knob of butter
300gr frozen peas
2 heaped desert spoons of Creme Fraiche
1 lemon
- finely slice the bacon (or go without it)
- pick the mint leaves, discard the stalks
- finely grate the Parmesan
- boil your pasta according to instructions
- in a large frying pan adda good lug of olive oil and the butter on medium heat
- add the bacon
- finely chop the mint leaves
- as soon as the bacon is golden, add the frozen peas and give the pan a good shake
- after roughly a minute add the creme fraiche
- add the chopped mint leaves to the bacon and peas
- when pasta is ready cooked, drain the pasta and reserve some cooking water
- add the pasta to the frying pan
- halve the lemon and squeeze the juice over the pasta
- when all is bubbling away remove the pan from the heat
- the sauce should be creamy, silky (less so if you use the pantry cream), if you find it too thick add a bit of the reserved cooking water to thin it out
- add the grated parmesan and mix slightly
- add salt and pepper to your liking.
That`s all – now dig in and enjoy!
Have a lovely day, stay at ease,
AK
