When you see “crisy pancetta”, isn’t the first word that comes to mind Y-E-S!!  Those little bits of heaven!  Especially now that the stores offer pre-diced and chopped pancetta.  Look for it near the deli section.  It makes cooking so much easier and convenient.  Plus the crispy bites just add so much flavor to this pasta dish and so many other dishes for that matter…scrambled eggs for example.  Try it…home run.

This holiday season, we are all looking for side dishes to add to the expected turkeys, hams, beef tenderloins, pork tenderloins, etc.  And at this point after Thanksgiving, we’ve all eaten our share of mashed potatoes.  So why not mix it up with a pasta dish?  Especially if you can show off with some adorable Snowman Pasta.  These are some of my favorite shapes – snowmen and snowflakes – so festive and the perfect forkful!

I really like the simplicity of this dish…especially this time of year.  We need quick, colorful, balanced dishes.  Few ingredients, but a dish that delivers in flavor.  Our Snowman Pasta with Crispy Pancetta, Peas & Parmesan brings together ingredients that kids love too!

So, a couple things to emphasize.  Save the pasta water!  Save the pasta water!  Yes…I’ve made this mistake, even after reading the instructions, just due to our normal cooking instincts.  BUT…the pasta cooking liquid/water is so flavorful and can round out all the flavors and add some needed juices to the dish.  It becomes an integral part of the sauce.

Also, make sure your pancetta is crispy!  Now, keep yourself near the pan.  If your pieces are small, they can go from crispy to burnt in just a few minutes.

And be generous with the Parmesan.  I always prefer the original Italian Parmigiano-Reggiano, due to the incredible taste and texture…but the younger non-Italian substitutes will do…except for the green canister…don’t even think about it! No!

So I hope you enjoy all the cooking this holiday season and make sure you include some pasta!:)