Mario Batali's Pappardelle with Peas and Parmesan

Oh, how I love thee, Internet.

Shall I count the ways?

I saw this recipe in a magazine - I can't remember which one - like, almost 10 years ago or something. Way before this blog was a twinkle in my eye and way before I even really understood what the Internet was all about. (Er - not that I now have much of a clue, but still. Fiber optic cables! Coal-fired power stations! Personal websites! I am way more informed.) I clipped it and made it and filed it away and then totally forgot about it, only to have an inquisitive reader ask me about it recently (hi, Charlotte!) because she'd read a comment I left on Adam's blog two years ago in which I waxed rhapsodic about said pasta.

So! I set myself to digging among my recipe clippings. It embarrasses me slightly that it took me, a somewhat neurotically organized person, more than ten minutes to find the darn thing. In fact, it took me more like a week.* A week in which I desperately emailed Adam (Hadn't I emailed him the recipe? Apparently, I had not.) and had to slowly face up to the fact that perhaps my organizational skills weren't quite what I imagined them to be.

(Sob!)

And then, of course, ten minutes after telling myself this, I found the recipe, glued sweetly and snugly into some binder page, exactly where it should have been, obviously.

After all that effort, I was hungry and, frankly, a little curious. Wouldn't it be fun to see how the recipe stood up, after hiding out for so long? I marched myself out to the store, bought a pound of fettucine and got to work.

And it is, just as you might have already imagined from the words "Mario", "Batali", and, oh, perhaps "Pappardelle", "Peas", and "Parmesan", quite tasty. Peas and mint are a match made in heaven, of course, and when you throw a silky tangle of fettucine into the mix and the long strands get all green and velvety from the pea puree and sweet-salty from the honey and Parmigiano, well then, you can imagine your delight at dinner. But there are a few things I have to note, because I strayed from the original recipe ever-so-slightly, and I think you should, too.

First of all, watch it with the honey, folks. Mario asks for two entire tablespoons of the stuff, but this makes the dish brazenly sweet instead of delicately nuanced and I think we can all agree that nuance is better than in-your-face sweetness, no? Then, he also says you need an entire stick of butter. And you know, if you're into that kind of thing, by all means toss the whole stick in there. But this dish can do with a whole lot less of the stuff. Also, one more thing, you need to loosen the sauce with pasta water before you toss it with the pappardelle, otherwise you lose precious minutes trying to coat the pasta properly, so that by the time you do and bring it to the table, it's well on its way to being lukewarm. And we all know there is nothing worse than lukewarm pasta.

(Don't we? DON'T WE? Sheesh.)

Anyway, this is the story of the little recipe that could, powered by the Internet - it made it into a magazine, into a binder, into a comment section, into an email, and now finally, out to you all. May you all like it as much as I do.

*Yes, I tried Googling it, but heavens to Betsy, this recipe was nowhere to be found online. So now it is. Thank God for blogs, wouldn't you say?

Pappardelle with Peas and Parmesan
Serves 8 as an appetizer or 4 as a main course

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium Spanish onion, chopped fine
1 tablespoon wildflower honey
3 cups fresh shucked peas (or frozen)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 pound fresh homemade pappardelle or 1 pound dried fettucine
1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1/2 cup packed fresh mint leaves, torn in half

1. In a large saute pan, heat the oil until it is just smoking. Add the onion, honey, and 2 cups of the peas, and saute until softened and cooked through, about 10 to 12 minutes.

2. Place peas in a food processor and pulse until coarsely pureed, season generously with salt and pepper, and set aside.

3. Bring 6 quarts of water to a boil and add 2 tablespoons salt. Melt the butter in the saute pan, add the remaining peas, and cook slowly until just softened, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the pea puree to the whole peas and set aside.

4. Just before the pasta is done, pour a ladle of the starchy cooking water into the pan with the pea puree and stir to loosen the sauce. Cook the pasta until al dente and drain well, reserving more of the pasta water. Immediately toss the pasta into the pan with the pea mixture and place over medium heat. Stir gently to mix well, adding a little pasta water to achieve the correct texture, not too dry and not too wet - the noodles should be dressed like the greens of a salad. Add the cheese and mint leaves, and toss to combine. Serve immediately.

Comments

[Lori]

I saw the little FN clip. Very cute and you were great. I am so glad I started my blog. It has truly been an adventure! I am glad to find your site.

[Rebecca]

This sounds delicious! Nice post, too! Congrats on the FN clip!

[Lydia (The Perfect Pantry)]

So nice that the little recipe held up so well after all you went through to bring it back to life! Congrats on the FN clip; it was such fun to watch.

[Moriah]

I'm so glad you found this recipe because now I can try it. Aren't fresh spring vegetables wonderful? They almost make the winter bearable.

[Amanda]

This dish sounds refreshingly light and savory. Just the perfect dinner for this time of year. I saw the clip of you on the FN Dish and thought it was really entertaining. congrats!

[EB]

I love every ingredient in this recipe! I bet the combo is just springy, and fresh, and lovely. The peas of spring have sprung! Do you think the sweetness of the peas (beyond gobs of honey) is was makes it a bit too sweet?

[SD]

Oh man, I need to plant some mint! I've been wanting to make that Nigel Slater pea/mint dish you posted a while back and now this. It sounds wonderful...silky. I never would have thought of adding honey.

[Luisa]

Thanks everyone! Glad you liked the clip.

EB - no, I definitely think the honey made it too sweet. The peas are just right (plus they get tempered by the onion and the mint). The honey should really only be sparingly included = that way you have the faintest floral quality that you wouldn't have without it, but it doesn't turn into dessert.

SD - I'm thinking the same thing as I buy my balcony plants for the spring: mint will defnitely be among them.

[ann]

Oh man, I cannot wait for pea season again (that sounds really odd when I say it inside my head). This sounds like a real winner, thanks for digging it up and sharing with us. You're a real recipe archaeologist you are!

[Anne]

Honey? In pasta? Really? OK, Miss. I'm gonna try it. I trust Batali but I trust you more.

Is the recipe you posted the one with your adjustments or the original? I think it's yours but I'm not 100%.

[Luisa]

Anne - I know, it's weird. Use restraint and it will work. And yes, the recipe I typed up is the one with my tweaks.

[victoria]

Sounds good. Most things are better with butter - but butter isn't one of them!

[kylie]

We've got peas here in Texas and I'm going to try this tonight! Thanks for resurrecting the recipe. I'm a faithful lurker on your blog but very very rarely post. But wanted to let you know we tried Vice Versa a few weeks ago when in NYC to do a half marathon and had a lovely meal. They seemd to have paid attention to you and fixed their little overzealous table clearing waitstaff problem. My sister and I taking a girls trip to the city next weekend -- any suggestions regarding fun restaurants for us to try on this trip?

[Aaron Kagan]

I once made a similar meal for a former professor. Honored by his visit and also wanting to show off, I decided my strongest meal would be a simple pasta that showcased the freshness and flavor of my CSA's English peas.

I painstakingly blanched, shucked, and plopped them into a creamy pasta. He turned out to be a picky eater. Literally - he picked each pea out of the dish.

www.teaandfood.blogspot.com

[alicia]

This information was probably only relevant when you were making changes to your site, but I just happened to run across this and perhaps there might be something that still may be helpful.
http://www.wambooli.com/help/bloggers/bloggers.pdf

[SaratogaChef]

I made this last night for my wife and I, and it was fabulous! Had to go with the frozen peas, but it still worked wonderfully. We had a nice, dry Italian white wine with it. I wonder if a little squirt of lemon juice might brighten it just a tad?

[Dana]

The internet is great like that :). This, by the way, looks AMAZING.

[jutta]

yum, I just made this for dinner and it was great, thanks for posting it!

[R.A.D. Stainforth]

I’m so inspired by your blog. We mustn’t lose this recipe, so forgive me, I’ve included it on my blog, picture and all. A rare discovery! Thanks.

[klp]

Every time I see a recipe with the pea-mint pairing, I cry a small tear. I love both ingredients, but developed a mint allergy in college. Somehow, I just don't think my usual substitutes of parsley or cilantro will do this dish justice.

But thanks for the yummy thoughts!

[passy]

Oh, wow! Made this for a Kentucky Derby dinner & it was perfection. Substituted corkscrew pasta which was great because the sauce found its way into all the nooks & crannies of each piece of the pasta. The mint was the perfect enhancement to the previously imbibed mint juleps.

[RecipeGirl]

Just discovered your blog :) Great stuff you've got here!

I love honey in pasta... but as you mentioned- a little goes a long way. I have a side dish that I make w/ angel hair pasta and honey that the kiddos love. This one sounds great w/that pea puree!

[nina]

After all the trouble that you've gone through it has to be a great recipe - will try a.s.a.p.

[Adrienne]

Thanks for digging this one out - I made it last week and my pea-hating friend actually liked it :)

[Emily]

Umm...was I the only one impressed that you actually cut and glue your recipes in a binder? Wow, girl! And here I thought I was being clever ripping/printing them out, throwing them in a 3-hole punch and slipping them into binders (yes, multiple binders, but they're not full, and I have every intention of trying every single recipe at some point!)

Looking forward to trying this one before it gets added to my binder collection!

[Megan]

I made this with my *much skeptical* boyfriend this weekend. Verdict: smash hit. Thanks!

[Megan]

And - And! I'm going to try the pea puree/mixture in Heidi's dumplings. Sounds good, no?

http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/plump-pea-dumplings-recipe.html

[Liz]

I LOVE this recipe. I have been cooking it at home for years since I received New York magazine's cookbook for a birthday present. I was recently at Batali's Po restaurant, but was afraid to try his version because I love mine so much!!

Thanks for posting this!