My years living in Bologna gave me many great memories and one of them is the quality of the food…if you have never been to Bologna you need to make a trip! In the major tourist cities (Venice,Roma,Firenze,etc.) you need to get off the beaten track to find really good restaurants…in Bologna,you trip over them. One of my favorite pastas that was introduced to me when I was there and is typical of the Emilia Romagna region is Garganelli. They are not easily found here in the US unless you venture to a specialty store,so when I saw them recently at a local deli I had to buy them. The brand is Delverde and the price on the box was $3.99 which is a little steep and when I took a closer look…it’s only 8.8 oz (250g) holy $h!t Batman!! That’s close to $8 a pound for dry pasta!! Of course I bought them.
We made them last night and sort of improvised with the ingredients. Here’s what you’ll need. (how much ingredients you ask?…a bit,a pinch and a splash. All I can say is:feel the Garganelli…be the Garganelli!!)
Garganelli con piselli e maiale
- Garganelli pasta
- extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 chopped onion
- 1 garlic clove diced
- a handful of diced sopressata (you can substitute with speck,prosciutto,pancetta or pork salt)
- pork meat chopped into small pieces
- tomato sauce (We use tomato sauce that we jar ourselves and it’s usually a little thicker then canned sauce. You might want to add tomato past but that’s up to you.)
- salt &fresh ground pepper
- frozen peas
- a splash of chicken broth
- a splash of dry red wine
- a splash of heavy cream or half/half (live a little!)
Add the olive oil,onion,garlic and sopressata to your sauce pan and let it simmer for a few minutes. {Take a second to enjoy the smell…close your eyes and pretend you live in a villa somewhere in the Italian countryside…ok back to reality before you burn the garlic.} Add the pork and continue simmering until the pork is almost cooked through. Then add your tomato sauce and chicken broth and let it simmer for a few minutes before adding the peas,salt,pepper and red wine. This is usually when I drop the pasta (takes about 7 minutes for the Garganelli.) When the pasta is about half way cooked,add a splash of heavy cream or half/half to your sauce and let it simmer until the pasta is done. There you have it…quick,easy and delicious. enjoy and buon appetito!
Yowza! on the price of the pasta,but it looks completely worth it.
If you’re going to splurge a little with th cream –once in a while can splurge a little with the pasta! I will keep my eye out. Because it does taste and sound and look like Italy!
I’m with you…live a little. What’s $8 for pasta if it looks as good as that.
I would have no problem spending that much for pasta Joe either,just look at the quality ingredients you put into this dish. You could never eat that good in a restaurant,and if you could,it would be a fortune!
I love the way you write recipes Joe.
Oh Wow!~
You had my mouth watering! Haven’t seen that pasta but I’ll be on the look out. The recipe sounds delicious….one I really have to make at my house! Thanks Joe. Next time plan ahead and make an announcement and we can all stop by! Ill bring the wine!
Hey Joe,I’m interested to know the product number on that pasta. My father has been in the Italian grocery business for many,many years,with DelVerde being the exclusive pasta he sells,he has actually never heard of this cut (when I mentioned it to him)…I am really looking forward to trying out your recipe!
I am one with that Garganelli,Joe!
And your Italian proverbs made me smile;my Mom always used to say,when mixing the salad,“Let the generous man pour the olive oil and the miser,the vinegar.”
A bit,a pinch,a splash…now that’s my kind of cooking,especially if it’s italian.
You should know that I am absolutely unnerved by that price for the pasta. I won’t tell you what I paid for mine…
That’s highway robbery!! So someone would have to choose between having garganelli or sending they’re kid to college!!! Makes me feel a tiny bit better about the outrageous cost of Maple Syrup here
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oh….yum….simply yum..wish il mio papa were still here
O.K. Joe your making me very hungry and its to early in the morning
Yes,I have been to the fat city ,I love it!!
OK…as soon as I read this recipe,and even more from looking at that picture,I thought I needed to make Pasta con Piselli. So I went and bought all the ingredients for this and made it for dinner. I invited my Sicillian friend over to try. She LOVED it,as did I. I even went and found the Garganelli pasta at a specility shop at the local Farmer’s Market. WOW….cost a little more than you stated! But…I will be making it again and again!! Era il delizioso. un milione ringrazia!!! ciao ragazzi…