I think I would just sprinkle w/parm cheese.It sounds great.Let us know how it turns out.

Shelley

I think a lite cream/white sauce would be quite good, as the pancetta and onions will be strongly flavored enough that all you need is something to keep the pasta from sticking together. If you've a lemon, a bit of the juice and some zest will add a nice zip. Or, if you've a tomato handy, a chopped tomato tossed in will make for a different flavor.

Pasta is really wonderful food, there are so many possibilities.

Just some good olive oil would work well. That with a chopped fresh tomato, even better.

Jim

On second thought, scratch the tomato. Probably not such a good match with the beans. Just EVOO and some seasonings.

Jim

One of my favourite pasta dishes came from Marilyn. I use frozen peas, egg noodles rather than spaghetti and bacon rather than pancetta. I'm sure it would be good using green beans, providing they were cut into small pieces. Wolf and I both love this dish.

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by DanaIN (My Page) on Tue, Jan 6, 04 at 15:36

This is the recipe I made from Tyler FlorenceÂs Real Kitchen cookbook.
What a great way to get dinner on the table quickly with things you probably already have on hand. So full of flavor! But then how can you go wrong with bacon and caramelized onions?

Spaghetti with Peas and Pancetta

1/2 (8 ounces) pound spaghetti (I used 6 ounces linguini)
Extra-virgin olive oil (I omitted this)
6 ounces pancetta or thick-cut bacon, diced (I used bacon)
1 onion, minced
1 bay leaf
1 cup sweet peas, frozen or fresh (I used frozen)
1 ounce goat cheese (I used Feta cheese)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (I used 1/3 cup)
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Juice of 1 lemon (I left this out completely. I tried a little on a small amount of finished pasta dish and did not like it nearly as well as I did without it.)
Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup fresh basil, hand torn

In a large stockpot, cook the spaghetti in plenty of boiling salted water.
At the same time, heat a 2-count drizzle of olive oil (I didnÂt do this because I used bacon) in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the pancetta (bacon), and stir it around. When the fat starts to render, after about 3 minutes, add the onion and bay leaf. Cook and stir until the onion caramelizes, about 10 minutes (it took longer). (I drained off the bacon fat.) Now add the peas and cook for 2 minutes just to heat them through.
Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the starch water for the sauce. Fold the goat (feta) cheese into the hot pasta and give it a toss so it melts. Scrape the pancetta, onions, and peas into the pasta pot (toss the bay leaf). Add the Parmigiano, parsley and lemon juice (I left out the lemon juice). Slowly pour in the reserved pasta water to dissolve the cheese and thin it out to a sauce consistency. Hit it with a healthy dose of olive oil (I did not do the addition) and quite a few turns of freshly ground black pepper to give it bite. Return the noodles to the pot and gently toss to coat in the sauce. Split the pasta between 2 large bowls and shower it with the shredded basil. (I tossed the basil in the pasta in the pot before serving). I garnished leftovers with extra feta cheese.
This makes much more than two normal size serving.

Marilyn (DanaIn)

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SharonCb

Hi Folks! Great discussion. All the ideas sound yummy to me! I'm still trying to decide that to do. I make a soup with pancetta (well, most of the time I use fake bacon bits) peas and ditalinni. And I make a pasta with green beans, feta and tomato sauce. Here I'm trying for something more German, less Italian. The noodles are those little chunky egg ones. Not the wide fat ones, but the short thick ones. Like spaetzel on a diet!

I'm gonna try something like Marilyn's recipe, except maybe use wine instead of lemon juice, and this Bavarian seasoning I have from Penzeys instead of basil. If it turns out runny I can always add a dash of the cream of mushroom soup. I'm thinking Germans would use something like a really dry Jarlsburg cheese instead of parmesean, but I don't want to go to the grocery store. I'm trying to clean out the fridge to go on vacation.

I'll keep you posted!

I would make a broth-ey sauce.
Thicken a mixture of chicken broth and wine with a little cornstarch...perhaps season with thyme or parsley....or maybe with both.
You don't need a lot of flavor with the onions and pancetta.
Linda C

I thought of stock also-- maybe cook a sprig of thyme in a little butter, add chicken stock and thicken with cornstarch.

I also think it would be good smothered in tomato sauce (but maybe I think that about everything)

I'm gonna try this cornstarch thickened broth idea. I have rarely made a sauce like this so I'm curious to try. It will be a few days though, I have a bunch of other stuff to use up in the fridge.

Well I got distracted as usual, but I'm reporting back. Very yummy and I will definately be making again. I did't use enough green beans, but I have more frozen ones I will add to the leftovers. Didn't make a sauce because I had some mozzarella molding away in the fridge to use up, which I mixed with the cream of portabella mushroom soup for a sauce. (After I cut off the moldy part!!) The caramelized onions were a great addition, but pancetta was not the right bacon for this dish. Which is good because pancetta is expensive. I dunno what kind of bacon I'm going to use next time, I hardly ever buy bacon. The mozzarella added nothing either. Nor did the splash of white wine. If I add a cheese when I make this again, it will be parm. or mild feta in small quantities. The noodles make the dish. Doesn't need a lot of other stuff, no herbs--just bacon, carmelized onions, green beans, pasta and a very light sauce. I do so love fresh green beans!