Pasta e Piselli (Pasta with Peas)

Pasta e Piselli (pasta with peas) is a delicious, one-pot meal that has been loved by Italians and Italian Americans for generations. Made with just a few ingredients, this simple pasta dish, with its creamy texture and sweet peas, is sure to bring smiles to your dinner table.

I love pasta dishes and this easy pasta recipe is one of my favorites! The sweet baby peas and tender ditalini pasta blended with grated romano cheese create a delicately balanced flavor that your whole family will love.

I know after one bite, my pasta e piselli with become a family favorite that you’ll be making all year long.

My Pasta and Piselli recipe uses simple pantry ingredients and takes less than 30 minutes from start to finish. It also only uses one pot, which makes clean-up a breeze.

If you love light pasta dishes, you’ll love my Pasta Aglio e Olio with Broccoli Rabe.

Ingredients to make Pasta e Piselli

Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make Pasta e Piselli (Pasta with Peas recipe). In Chef Speak, this is called the “Mise en Place,” which translates to “Everything in its Place.”

Not only does setting up your ingredients ahead of time speed up the cooking process, it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.

Made with simple pantry ingredients

• ditalini pasta
• green peas (frozen or fresh peas)
• extra virgin olive oil
• onion
• fresh garlic
• Italian parsley
• Pecorino Romano cheese (or parmesan cheese)
• black pepper
• salt
• red pepper flakes
• water

Traditionally ditalini is used to make this pasta with peas, but other small pasta shapes, such as small shells, farfalle, pennette, elbow macaroni, and orzo, can also be used for Pasta e Piselli.

If you’re not a fan of peas or simply want to add additional vegetables to the dish, asparagus, spinach, grape tomatoes, broccoli, broccolini, and red peppers would make nice additions. Any of the vegetables you add should be cut into small pieces to keep the style and look of this dish the same.

How to make Pasta e Piselli (pasta with peas)

• Add the olive oil and chopped onions to a large pan over medium-high heat. Cook the onions until soft (4 – 5 minutes). Don’t let the onions brown.
• Add the chopped garlic and red pepper flakes to the onions and continue to cook for 1 minute.
• Add the water, salt, and baby peas to the onion mixture and bring to a boil ( used frozen peas).
• Once boiling, remove some of the peas and mash them with a large spoon or fork.

*Chicken broth or vegetable broth can be used instead of water for a more flavorful dish, or you can use half water and half broth. Just make sure to cut back on the salt if you use broth.

• Add the pasta and mashed peas to the pot and reduce the heat to medium.
• Let the pasta cook per instructions on the package for aldente. Stir the mixture often to keep it from sticking. If the pasta isn’t fully cooked, add more water until the pasta is cooked to the desired doneness.
• When the pasta has reached al dente, remove the pot from the stove and mix in the cheese and chopped parsley.
• Taste and season the cooked pasta with peas to taste with salt and black pepper. If the pasta seems dry, add a little water to loosen it up.

If you’d love to make a hearty soup with ditalini, try my Pasta Fagioli.

Serve the pasta e piselli with black pepper and additional grated pecorino romano cheese. This dish can be served as a first course, a pasta side, or a main dish. It would be a delicious light dinner with a nice tossed salad or Caesar salad, and crusty bread

You can store leftover pasta e piselli in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. To reheat, you can use a microwave or a stove. If it’s too dry, add a little extra water or chicken stock to loosen it up.

FAQ’s About This Classic Italian Pasta Dish

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