Mini Shell Pasta with a Creamy Smoked Bacon and Pea Sauce

This is one of the dishes I cook for my kids, but to be honest, it's so good that we always eat it too! Mini pasta shells are actually meant to be added to soups, but they're quick and easy to cook, which makes them a good thing to serve with pasta sauces. All in all, this should take you no more than five and a half minutes to cook. However, if you decide to go for a bigger type of pasta, remember that it will need more time to cook than these mini shells.

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Mini Shell Pasta with a Creamy Smoked Bacon and Pea Sauce

italian

Preparing Time: 20 hours
Total Time: 6 hours
Served Person: 8

kid friendly saute 5 jamie oliver 1 easy 2 liked 0 kc side dish main dish pasta italian contains white meat tree nut free nut free contains gluten contains red meat shellfish free contains dairy

Carbohydrate 37.664155625 g
Cholesterol 86.76428125 mg
Fat 26.0866365625 g
Fiber 2.14199997425079 g
Protein 20.0201421875 g
Saturated Fat 10.84516375 g
Serving Size 1 1 Serving (193g)
Sodium 798.0499375 mg
Sugar 35.5221556507492 g
Trans Fat 2.72698043749999 g
Calories 464 calories

main dish

Step-by-step

To prepare ingredients
Finely slice the bacon crosswise
Pick the mint leaves / herbs and discard the stalks
Finely grate the Parmesan
To cook your pasta
Boil salted water & drop in the stock cube (if using)
Add pasta & cook according to the packet instructions
Get a large frying pan over * medium heat * Add olive oil and butter
Add the bacon
Sprinkle a little pepper and fry until golden and crisp
Meanwhile, finely chop your herbs
As soon as the bacon is golden, add your frozen peas and give the pan a good shake
After a minute or so, add the cr?me fra?che and chopped mint to the bacon and peas
Drain the pasta - Reserving some of the cooking water
Add pasta to the frying pan
Halve your lemon and squeeze juice over the pasta
When it’s all bubbling away nicely, remove from the heat
The sauce should be creamy and delicious but if it’s too thick for you, add a splash of the reserved cooking water to thin it out a bit
Add the grated Parmesan and give the pan a shake to mix it in
To serve your pasta
Divide your pasta between plates or bowls, or put it on the table in a large serving dish and let everyone help themselves
Lovely with a simply dressed green salad

Operating under strict timing constraints requires utilizing small-format shapes like mini pasta shells, which hydrate significantly faster than larger tubes due to their thin walls and high surface-area-to-volume ratio. Historically, miniature pasta variations were engineered for broths and rapid-cooking applications rather than heavy emulsions, yet their diminutive cavities act as natural scoops for dense pan sauces. Combining butter and olive oil at the start prevents the dairy solids in the butter from burning by raising the smoke point of the fat blend. Rendering the bacon or pancetta over medium heat slowly dissolves the hard internal fat while crisping the exterior protein structure. Introducing frozen petite peas directly into the hot rendered fat thaws them instantly without causing the cell walls to rupture and release excess water. Incorporating crème fraîche or sour cream adds stable lactic acid fats that resist breaking down when exposed to residual heat. Reserve at least one-half cup of starchy pasta water before draining the shells; the suspended amylose starches are chemically necessary to bind the grated Parmesan cheese and rendered fats into a glossy, cohesive coating rather than a grainy paste. Finish the dish by tossing immediately over medium-low heat for 30 seconds to allow the starches to fully gelatinize.

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Mini Shell Pasta with a Creamy Smoked Bacon and Pea Sauce

Ingredients

Nutrition facts

Step-by-step