Farmer Kim of Spring Morning Farm brought me fresh garden peas along with my eggs, I had picked up asparagus and local spring onions at Filasky’s Produce, and had asparagus waiting to be used, so that meant some combination of the three was in the offing.  Add to this that my husband and I watched The Chew while he was recovering from surgery, and Mario Batali made a delicious looking pea and pancetta pasta dish that we both wanted to try.  I don’t do pork, so I switched to turkey bacon, added asparagus and made a few other changes and got the dish you see below.  If you want to try his original recipe, it can be found here.

I was making this on a night I commute, so I needed to hull the peas the day before.  I had the help of Cameron, although I think I lost more to his mouth than he added to the bowl.

I walked in the door at 6:20 and had dinner on the table around 6:45, not bad!

Spring Pea, Asparagus and Turkey Bacon Spaghetti

Serves 4-5

2 Tbsp olive oil

6 oz turkey bacon, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 lb asparagus, chopped (from Filasky’s Produce)

3 spring onions, thinly sliced (from Filasky’s Produce)

2 cups shelled peas (from Farmer Kim)

salt

freshly ground pepper

1 lb spaghetti

1/2 cup parmesiano reggiano, shredded

Bring a large pot of water to boil.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add the bacon and cook til starting to crisp.  Add the garlic and asparagus, and saute for about 3 minutes, add the spring onions, cook for another 2 minutes.  Add the peas and 1/2 cup of hot water from the pot.  Stir well and cook over high heat til peas are tender and the liquid has reduced by about half, a little over a minute.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Remove from heat.

Once the water is boiling, add 2 Tbsp salt and the pasta.  Cook according to instructions and remove just before it is done.  Add 1/4 cup of the pasta water to the pea pan.

Drain the spaghetti and add it to the pea mixture.  toss till well combined.  Dish into bowls and top with the grated cheese.

Enjoy!