This past weekend Jamie and I were back in Hamilton, visiting friends and family. A pre-Easter trip so that we don’t have to travel on the long weekend. I especially enjoyed spending time with my nephew, Sam. We made chocolate covered marshmallows, candy pancakes and went to a Maple Syrup Festival. There is a reason I am an aunt 🙂

When Jamie and I got back into town earlier this week, I had a moment of panic when I wasn’t sure what I was going to share in today’s post. I didn’t have anything planned out. Thankfully I had just received the most recent copy of the Food Network’s magazine in the mail. I sat myself down on the couch and started flipping through the recipes. I figured I could find something that would inspire today’s post.

It didn’t take long before I came across this recipe for Peas and Pancetta. I always have frozen peas on hand and I always have bacon in my freezer. Consider my quest for a recipe to share complete.

Last night I created a new-to-me side dish that was definitely inspired from the recipe I saw in the magazine. I started off by caramelizing onions. I have mentioned this to you before, but this is, by far, my favourite way to cook onions. It takes a bit more time, but it is definitely worth it.

As the onions were cooking, I chopped up some bacon and cooked that up. I set it aside and knew that I would throw it in at the end to add a bit of texture and flavour. Have I mentioned before how much I love bacon? 😉

After the onions were done and the bacon was set aside, I added in some minced garlic. I let that cook down a bit and then threw in frozen peas. A lot of frozen peas. In fact, it looked like a mountain of frozen peas in the frying pan. I gently tossed them with the onions and garlic. I had to toss them gently, or else the peas would have ended up all over the kitchen floor.

It took about 7 minutes for the peas to be thawed and warmed all the way through. To this, I added in the bacon. I started with 4 slices, but likely about 3 made it to the final dish. I really can’t help myself when there is cooked bacon just sitting on the kitchen counter, waiting to be devoured.

I thought I was done, but then I opened up the fridge and saw cocktail tomatoes sitting there, staring at me. Hmmm, tomatoes, peas, bacon and onions. Would these flavours go together? Of course they would! I quickly chopped up three tomatoes and mixed them in with the peas. The final result was delicious!

This is a great side dish for you to consider this Easter weekend. It is easy, bright and flavourful. It would also make a great side for Christmas, since it is red and green.

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Inspired by:
Michael Symon’s Peas and Pancetta

Ingredients:

• 2.5 onions – sliced and caramelized
• 1.5 tsp minced garlic
• 4 strips bacon – chopped and cooked till crisp
• 4 cups frozen peas
• 3 coctail tomatoes, chopped
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Slice and caramelize onions.  Add in minced garlic.
2. Add in frozen peas, and toss gently.  Cook till thawed and warmed through (about 7 minutes).
3. Add in cooked bacon pieces and chopped tomatoes.
4. Season with salt & pepper.
5. Enjoy!  So easy and so good!