Mezze Paccheri with Spring Peas & Candied Bacon in a Simple Parmesan Cream Sauce
This simple pasta dish has saved the day for many family meals. It seems like we most often enjoy this for Sunday dinner. Now that I have mentioned “Sunday dinner”, I will go ahead and invite you to join our family debate.
Every other day of the week, dinner refers to that 6 o’clock ((ish)) evening meal BUT on Sundays, “dinner” refers to the noon-hour meal that follows the Sunday morning church service. I call it dinner, but the herd calls it lunch. I know I am right – but would love to hear what you call it – Sunday “DINNER” or Sunday “lunch“??
Regardless of the name, the reaction to this pasta meal is ALWAYS the same :: no leftovers and a meal sprinkled with music to my ears :: “this is my favorite!” and “can I have seconds?!”.
The trick is having a few key ingredients on hand ::
- a bag of dried pasta
- pre-cooked bacon ((I usually have extra candied bacon on hand, but also love Hormel’s pre-cooked bacon strips))
- frozen spring peas
- cream
- a block of quality parmesan cheese
- a block of white sharp cheddar
- Dijon mustard
- lemon zest & chopped chives (optional)
Usually, when sharing a recipe, I include photos of every step and all ingredients – but true to life, I was actually whipping this meal up for Sunday DINNER. I was more focused on getting the meal to the table than snapping pictures of each step. And each step is so speedy, the steps flew by before I had time to realize I was missing photo ops.
While I don’t have the photos, I do have a few great tips that will help you get this meal on the table in record speed:
- First, start by boiling water. To speed up the boiling, cover the pot ((sorry if that is too obvious, but I forget that step about half of the time!))
- Second, in a large skillet, start heating the cream
- While step 1 & 2 are underway, shred your cheeses, zest the lemon & chop bacon ((or better yet, ask hubby/kiddos to help with this step!!))
- Boil the pasta in salted water, subtracting one minute from the suggested cooking time
- Next, pour the frozen peas into a colander and run COLD water over them until they are thawed
- By this time, the cream should be thickening, so stir in cheeses, mustard, chives & lemon zest
- Once the pasta is cooked, reserve some of the cooking liquid, drain remaining pasta and add the pasta to the cream sauce
- Stir in peas and heat them through and season to taste
- Top with additional bacon, cheese, lemon zest and some chopped chives
- DINNER is served!
It really is a matter of having the right ingredients on hand! Very simple, supper speedy and pleasing to all.
- 1 lb bag of dried pasta
- 8-10 strips pre-cooked bacon ((I usually have extra candied bacon on hand, but also love Hormel's precooked bacon strips))
- 1 bag frozen spring peas
- 2½ c cream
- 1½ c quality parmesan cheese, hand shredded
- 1½ c white sharp cheddar, hand shredded
- 1 t dijon mustard
- lemon zest, from one lemon (optional)
- 3-4 T chopped chives (optional)
- salt & pepper to taste
- First, start by boiling water. To speed up the boiling, cover the pot ((sorry if that is too obvious, but I forget that step about half of the time!)).
- Second, in a large skillet, start heating the cream.
- While step 1 & 2 are underway, shred your cheeses, zest the lemon & chop bacon ((or better yet, ask hubby/kiddos to help with this step!!)).
- Boil the pasta in salted water, subtracting one minute from the suggested cooking time
- Next, pour the frozen peas into a colander and run COLD water over them until they are thawed.
- By this time, the cream should be thickening, so stir in cheeses, mustard, chives & lemon zest.
- Once the pasta is cooked, reserve some of the cooking liquid, drain remaining pasta and add the pasta to the cream sauce.
- Stir in peas and heat them through, season with s & p to taste.
- Top with additional bacon, cheese, lemon zest and some chopped chives.
- DINNER is served!