Peas and Pancetta | Italian Side Dish

Peas and Pancetta is a delicious and easy Italian side dish that comes together fast! Made with frozen peas, diced pancetta, and sliced shallots.

This is the perfect side to dish to serve with your Italian dinner. Peas and Pancetta is a traditional Italian side dish that’s so easy to make and such a crowd pleaser.

If you’ve never had Peas and Pancetta, the name says it all! It’s simply fried pancetta and shallots tossed with peas and seasoned with salt and pepper.

This is an excellent recipe to serve for a brunch – it’s great at room temperature. Or serve it on the side of your favorite Italian dinner, like Stuffed Shells or Italian Turkey Sausage Meatballs.

So next time you are looking for a quick and delicious Italian side dish, be sure to try this recipe. Read on to see how quick and easy this recipe is.

Peas and Pancetta Recipe

This simple side dish comes together in minutes and is so simple to make. Plus, you only need a few ingredients for this recipe: frozen peas, diced pancetta, a shallot, and olive oil.

Firstly, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Then, add in the olive oil, diced pancetta, and sliced shallots. With the pancetta, you can often find it already diced in the deli section of the grocery store. You could also buy a 4 ounce slice of it from the deli and cube it yourself.

Cook the pancetta and shallots until the pancetta crisps up and the shallots soften. Then, add in the peas. They can be frozen or thawed. If using frozen, just add to the cooking time slightly.

Lastly, add kosher salt and black pepper to taste. The pancetta can be salty so wait before adding salt. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Recipe Substitutions

Pancetta may be difficult to find depending on where you live. However, it has become more common place at the grocery store. I like to use the pre-diced variety you can find in the deli section. Trader Joe’s also has sells diced pancetta in their stores.

If you can’t find pancetta, diced bacon or thick prosciutto would be a good substitute. To make dicing these meats easier, freeze them for about 10 minutes before cutting.

As for the shallots, you can always substitute about 1/2 cup of thinly sliced onion. Use sweet, white, or red onion if you have it.

More Simple Side Dishes

Be sure to check out these other simple side dishes that are great for any occasion:

Broccoli Cranberry Salad with Greek Yogurt Dressing

Pinwheel Bread Rolls with Bacon and Parmesan

Mexican Street Corn Salad

Mashed Potato Casserole with Ricotta and Parmesan

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Garlic

Italian Tomato Onion Salad

Hope you love this recipe! Be sure to comment if you try it.