Hot Hot Hot Shells Peas and Pep
Try this Hot Hot Hot Shells Peas and Pep recipe or contribute your own.
Try this Hot Hot Hot Shells Peas and Pep recipe or contribute your own.
- 2 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 tb olive oil
- 1 ts soy sauce
- 1/4 c tomato sauce
- 1 ts chinese oyster sauce
- 1/4 c vodka
- 1 ts unsalted butter
- 1 tb honey (up to 2)
- grated cheese (probably
- 3 hot fresh peppers (i used 1
- chopped flat leaf parsley or
- 1 c leftover peas and stewed
- 1 shallot chopped fine
- 1 ts butter
- dried pasta shells
- Carbohydrate 25.8089774985052 g
- Cholesterol 71.227708219369 mg
- Fat 31.0643170403068 g
- Fiber 6.5872499951163 g
- Protein 6.56134791579953 g
- Saturated Fat 17.5990828060994 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (535g)
- Sodium 2526.43149948466 mg
- Sugar 19.2217275033889 g
- Trans Fat 2.22184158031467 g
- Calories 513 calories
Step-by-step
- Many times we make pasta at home from leftover items in the refrigerator. Be creative and experiment with leftover vegetables, stews and cheeses. Few nights ago I found some leftover peas and stewed tomatoes and a bag of fresh hot peppers that we haven?t made much use of. The combination was good, but I think I used too many peppers.
- This dish highly improvised, and you can do the same with your pasta cooking. If you don?t have left over green peas, take out some frozen peas and rinse under hot tap water to thaw out. You may want to add fewer peppers than I did unless you have a high tolerance to heat. You can also skip the vodka and the oriental flavors if you want. The honey in the dish tames the heat a bit and you really don?t taste an overpowering sweetness. If you don?t have honey, you can use brown sugar, plain sugar or even maple syrup.
- Put pasta water in large pot (at least 4 1/2 qt pot for 2) on heat and bring up to boil. Add pasta to boiling water and keep stirring. Sauce cooks in the time it takes for the pasta to be done. Start to taste pasta after 6 minutes and strain when down.
- Heat a saute pan and then add olive oil, shallots and peppers. Add 1 tbs of the honey. Stir and then add vodka and flame if you like. Alcohol is optional and you can make this dish without it.
- Add peas to pan after flame dies down (seems that the honey makes for a bigger flame). You don?t have to flame if you don?t want, most of the alcohol will burn out after a few seconds.
- Add tomato sauce and some of the pasta cooking water. Taste. If too hot add more honey. Add soy and oyster sauce if using. When pasta is done, drain and add to the sauce. Add some butter if using and cheese. Add parsley for garnish and then serve in bowls. Serves 2 for main course or 3-4 as appetizer.
Operating inside a tight 30-minute window requires synchronizing your boiling water with the skillet so the sauce finishes precisely when the pasta hits al dente. Set a large pot holding at least 4.5 quarts of water on high heat immediately, salting it once boiling reaches a rolling bubble. Fresh hot peppers dictate the flavor profile of this dish, bringing sharp capsaicin compounds that demand a counter-agent. Honey acts as that stabilizer, rounding out the Scoville punch without imparting distinct confectionary sweetness; substitute brown sugar at a 1:1 ratio if honey is unavailable, though caramelization rates will vary slightly.
Controlling Heat and Flame
Building the reduction demands precise thermal management in a wide sauté pan. Sweat the shallots and minced garlic in olive oil over medium-low heat until translucent, about three minutes, preventing bitter charring before the liquids hit the pan. Introducing vodka creates a high-sugar combustion hazard when honey is present in the base; tilt the pan away from the burner element before introducing the alcohol to avoid dangerous flare-ups. Allow the alcohol to cook off fully for 60 seconds if skipping the flame method entirely, ensuring no raw ethanol flavor remains in the tomato and oyster sauce emulsion.
- Straining pasta before the six-minute mark risks a crunchy center, while exceeding nine minutes yields gummy shells.
- Reserved starchy pasta water must be added a tablespoon at a time to bind the butter and cheese without breaking the sauce into an oily separation.
- Frozen peas require only a brief rinse under hot tap water rather than full boiling to preserve their structural integrity.
