Pesto Pasta with Pancetta & Peas Paired with Pinot Grigio

Judging by that headline, it might be fair to say we’re a wee bit delirious with these early wafts of spring.

After such a long, long, looong winter, we’re cautious that this could just be a coy tease from that saucy minx Mother Nature, but, weaklings that we are, we’ll yield to temptation and revel in the sunlight. High off a sunny and warm weekend, spent wearing sweaters instead of parkas and ballet flats instead of heavy boots, we feel like this just may be the start of really good things to come.

The lightness of the weekend is brought on cravings for something bright, fresh and green, and a refreshing white wine to match. If you follow us on Facebook or Twitter, you’ll see about a week ago we whipped up an easy peasy pesto pasta – a perennial favourite of ours that offers both the springtime lightness we crave and a comfy elegance worthy of Sunday night dinner.

The added bonus is that it’s super quick to make, meaning we wouldn’t waste the coveted sunshine holed up in the kitchen, and the ingredients are super cheap (dinner for five for less than $25 – yes please). Win!

So with bright, fresh and green our modus operandi for dinner, we thought, what the hell? (very often the best answer), and decided to give this dish a second whirl around the dance floor. To match with our light and green dinner, we’re paired a Pinot Grigio – it’s subtle mineral and lime flavours combined with lively acidity made it a natural choice for the pasta. (Full disclosure: we’re teaming up with Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio this month, as the winery has been certified completely carbon neutral from vineyard to store shelf, and is anxious to get the word out – rightfully so. Look for more information on this incredible initiative in a blog coming out this week.)

Santa Margherita recently invited us to a launch celebrating this new green campaign, and as part of the promotion offered up not only tasty wine (see our review here), but basil seeds as the winery suggests its Pinot Grigio is the perfect pairing for pesto and other basil-based dishes. So, we thought we would put it to the test for our spring-inspired dinner.

Pesto Pasta with Pancetta, Peas and Parmesan

Serves 4-6, depending on how hungry everyone is

What You Need

• One box of orchiette or whatever pasta you like best
• 1 cup of spring peas
• 1 cup of cubed pancetta
• 1/2 cup sliced shallot
• 2 large cloves diced garlic
• 1/2 cup pesto* or more to taste
• Parmesan
• Dry white wine

*normally we make our own pesto, as it’s not difficult, and excellent green thumbs like Courtney and our mom have their basil pots runith over by July. But, it’s still to early for our gardens, so we used jarred. Don’t judge.

How You Do It

1. Set up a large pot of water to boil, salting liberally when it does and adding the pasta
2. Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat
3. Add the pancetta and stir until cooked, but not crispy, and the fat has been released
4. Remove the pancetta and let drain on paper towel
5. Scoop out enough fat so that only a few tablespoons remain
6. Add the shallot and cook until slightly golden and soft, maybe 2 minutes
7. Add the garlic and stir until fragrant, maybe 30 seconds
8. Deglaze with a good bit of dry white wine (likely the wine you are drinking with dinner and hopefully as you make it)
9. Add in the spring peas and return the bacon to the mixture
10. When the pasta is done (around now) drain and reserve about a cup of the cooking liquid
11. Add the pesto to the pea and pancetta mixture, stirring until well coated
12. Add the pasta to the pan
13. If needed, use the pasta water a little at a time to moisten
14. Stir in about 1/2 a cup parmesan and either transfer pasta to a platter, or bring the whole pan to the table and serve family style with extra parmesan for topping

How Did it Work With the Wine?

Really well. The Pinot Grigio, is mid weight, almost creamy in texture which is a great textural match against the oily pesto. With the wine’s orchard fruit, mineral and lime flavours paired against the tangy, herbaceous and nutty characteristics, Santa Margherita provided a nice frame to showcase the pasta for a lovely, easy pairing.

Care to Tweet this out?

Every time you use the hastag #SM_PinotGrigio during the month of April, Santa Margherita will donate 50 cents to Tree Canada.