– Click here for this recipe in Dutch -> Fregola met doperwten, pancetta en truffel –
Oh boys and girls!I just came up with THE BEST RECIPE EVER! Sorry for shouting but I’m so happy about this one. Look at that! Fregola with peas, pancetta and truffle. Fresh peas! The best pancetta ever! Truffle! What did I say? I mean TRUFFLE! I’m so crazy about this one! I really enjoyed this delicious recipe, this is insane.
I’ve always been a fan of peas. But I
grew up with canned peas and now I wonder how I could have ever liked that. Because fresh peas are sooo much better. Crispy freshness and deliciously sweet. Also nice to pop them out of their shells so I bought a big bag of fresh peas at the Farmers Market, and went home to shell them. I ended up with so many peas that I made this fregola and also a pan with fresh peas soup with mint (recipe coming soon!).
And then the pancetta, whoa! I took it home from the Netherlands because when we lived in Amsterdam, I had always pancetta of my favorite brand Brandt & Levie in my fridge. The most delicious, flavorful and a tremendously good base for pasta sauce. I took three pieces back to LA, a weird number for me because I really can’t stand odd numbers. My sister has the same, so we came to the conclusion that this is probably our mothers fault. She wanted four children and not three, because otherwise ‘one of them should always bike alone’. So therefore everything must be an even number I think. But I want to change that so that’s why I took home three pieces of pancetta. I wanted to give one pieces to my local butcher shop, asking if they could make it too. But when I returned from Amsterdam, I found out the butcher was already making and selling pancetta. So now I have three pieces of pancetta at home to use for ourselves, not bad! And if I finish them then I can buy good pancetta here in LA. Lucky me, because I was missing that in LA.
Pancetta is different than bacon, it’s a whole different level. Don’t get me wrong, I love some good bacon but the flavor of the pancetta is more intense, the meat is seasoned and dried and that has a delicious piece of meat as a result.
Truffle also belongs to one of my favorites food wise. What did I just say? Actually, it’s my ALL TIME FAVORITE, It’s so very very good. A while ago P gave me a small jar of precious truffle slices. In oil. Every now and then I refill the oil with a layer of good quality olive oil, so I make sure I never run out of olive oil.
And fregola… To be honest, I do not see much difference between fregola and Israeli couscous. If you can’t find fregola you can also use Israeli couscous. I also did that 😉
Fregola is a type of pasta from Sardinia and I‘m crazy about, it looks nice and combines easily.
Well what are you waiting for, make this delicious dish!
This is seriously a bowl full of goodness! The best comfort food I've ever made, filled with my most favorite things: fresh peas, pancetta and truffle. Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 2.5 oz cubed pancetta (preferably from your local butcher shop)
- 1 cup fregola or israeli couscous
- 1 cup broth (preferably mushroom broth, like porcini)
- 8 oz fresh peas
- 1 Tbsp truffle oil
- ½ Tbsp sliced truffles (optional), chopped
- Parmesan cheese for serving
Instructions
- Heat a iron cast skillet over medium high heat and add the pancetta. Cook for 3 – 4 minutes until the pancetta is done.
- Add the fregola (or Israeli couscous if using) and stir until every little grain is covered in fat.
- Add 1/3 of the broth and bring to a soft boil. Give it a stir and wait until the liquid is soaked up by the fregola. Add another 1/3 of the broth and repeat until the fregola is done. Test if the fregola is done, if not: add some hot water and repeat the previous steps until the fregola is cooked completely.
- In the meantime bring water to a boil in a large pot. Add the fresh peas when the water boils and add the peas for 90 seconds only.
- Drain and rinse under cold and running water and add the peas to the fregola.
- Add the truffle oil and truffle slices (if using) to the fregola and stir until combined.
- Serve with grated parmesan cheese.
Enjoy!
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