Peas and pancetta...

We made peas and pancetta for dinner the other night and it was SO YUMMY!  As you can see, in the top left corner,  the scallops were the main.

I do love how quickly one can cook up scallops and have a "nice" dinner.  You know, the dinners that you go out and pay heaps of money.... and think...yummy!

This is one of those meals. And, quick too! How much better than that can you get?  I will say the meal itself is a bit on the salty side - since pancetta is salty and well... so are scallops.  But, flavor wise, a great combo - especially with the creaminess of the scallops in mushroom cream sauce.

I got the recipe from Michael Symon's cookbook "Live to Cook" - which I thought was a great name and so had to buy it.  Ok... so I did look inside first to see if there was anything that I would be willing to cook and eat.  Lucky for both of us -- there were heaps of stuff that looked yummy! After all, how can you not buy a book that has a whole chapter dedicated to pickles?! :)

Peas and Pancetta

• 1/4 pound Pancetta, thickly sliced and then diced
• 1 shallot, sliced
• 1 tsp garlic, minced
• 1 cup peas (I used frozen and thawed but I would love to taste this with fresh peas)
• 1/4 cup flat leaf parsley (chopped)
• Kosher salt (or sea salt)

In a saute pan, cook the Pancetta until crispy.  about 5 min. Add shallots and garlic - sweat  - about a minute. Add peas, if using thawed peas - just until they are warm. If using fresh, until they are cooked. Remove from flame, toss in parsley.
Taste - add salt if needed. 

Now, Michael Symon uses orange juice in his version. I'm sure it is good but we were/are avoiding the extra sugar. And, I don't really think this needs the sweetness.  He also suggests putting this dish with fish such as grilled salmon or halibut.  But, since we have scallops - well - you know how that goes.

Here is a picture of the finished product.... thanks to the BF for both pictures. Otherwise, you would have none. I'm really trying to get better about taking pictures... sigh... but ... this involves planning... or some such thing. ok... it needs a camera too.

The two little round things... are tomatoes from the farmer's market.  They are called sun gold tomatoes which were last weeks favorite tomato.

This week...... well... I guess, I'll have to take pictures and let you know. :)