This Pasta with Pancetta and Peas is made with sautéed pancetta, shallot, and garlic in a white wine and butter sauce with cherry tomatoes.
All of the flavors meld together in this light but flavorful dish which will have you swooning (I certainly do). It is super easy, but decadent and restaurant quality.

This dish has only a handful of ingredients. It comes together in 30 minutes, great for a weeknight, date night in, or any other time when you want a quick but flavorful meal. To make sure this dish stands out, purchase the highest quality ingredients that fit in your budget. It makes a difference.
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🌟 Why You’ll Love This Dish
Easy and Quick: This dish comes together in 30 minutes, without any fancy techniques or equipment.
Pancetta, Peas, White Wine, Butter, Tomatoes: The combination of all these high-quality ingredients, prepared simply, will impress.
Restaurant Quality: Using simple, but high-quality and flavorful ingredients results in a restaurant-quality dish with big flavors. It’s one that you’d happily pay more for at a nice restaurant.
💡 Recipe Inspiration
I have been making variations on this white wine, butter, and tomato sauce for years. I first made it with crispy gnocchi, but I have since used it for all sorts of things like the topping on this Broccolini Pizza. It is great for when you have tons of tomatoes in your garden in the summer, or when they are overflowing at the farmers’ markets or grocery stores.
🇮🇹 My Number 1 Tip for Making Pasta Dishes
My biggest tip for making pasta dishes is to buy higher-quality pasta. This may seem simple or obvious, but I have passed the fancy pasta in the aisles so many times (for years) thinking that it was silly to spend that much money on dried pasta. But after reading more about how this pasta is made and why it costs more, I gave it a shot.
These kinds of pasta are much, much better than the standard Barilla pasta (which is my typical go-to pasta – I’m still a fan of this pasta - I buy whole wheat penne). The expensive artisanal pastas imported from Italy are typically made from high-quality durum wheat semolina flour. They are shaped with bronze dies, and dried at a much, much slower rate.
This means that the pasta retains more nutrients, has a more pleasing texture (rather than slippery smooth pasta), and tastes much more real and hearty. It’s not just something to cover in sauce, it becomes a real feature of the dish.
All of this work means that the pasta costs more to produce (and import), but it is well worth it, and often times these operations are family-owned and operated. You can also sometimes find interesting pasta shapes like the “calamari” shaped pasta that I’ve used here.
📝 Ingredients
Below are the ingredients needed to make Pasta with Pancetta and Peas. Pay close attention to the notes on what type of pasta to use. In this dish, the pasta is one of the stars.

- Olive Oil: Use extra virgin olive oil, not regular or light. Unlike regular olive oil, extra virgin olive oil is cold pressed and not heated or filtered. It also tastes better and imparts flavor to the dish.
- Pancetta: Pancetta can be expensive and tricky to find, but it does have a unique savoriness that you do not get with substitutes. If you can’t track it down, or it's not in the budget use bacon, or skip it altogether and add an extra couple of tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.
- Shallot: I prefer to mince the shallot. This way it adds flavor and essentially melts and disappears into the sauce for a smoother texture.
- Garlic: This recipe calls for minced garlic. This is a great way to get kids or family members involved. Have the kids peel the garlic. They will be so proud to have helped in a concrete way.
- Butter: Adds fat and flavor to the dish.
- White Wine: Use a dry white wine that you would enjoy drinking. Or if you prefer you can skip this step. If you do skip the wine, I would recommend not substituting or skipping other ingredients like the pancetta.
- Tomatoes: Use any kind of cherry or grape tomato. They are both sweeter and more tart than other types of tomatoes.
- Frozen Peas: These are added right at the end and warmed through.
- Pasta: If possible, choose high-quality Italian imported pasta made with durum wheat semolina that has been slow-dried. It will taste much better (be sure not to overcook it), and it will become one of the stars of the dish. Otherwise, for a less expensive approach, my favorite brand is Barilla. Choose rigatoni, penne, or a wide fat pasta shape like this “calamari” shaped pasta.
See the recipe card further below for full information on ingredients and quantities.
🍴How to Make Pasta with Pancetta and Peas
Below are the step-by-step instructions and photos for how to make Pasta with Pancetta and Peas. If you find these helpful, be sure to leave a comment below!
Note: The recipe card with instructions, ingredient list, and quantities is included further below these step-by-step photos.

Step 1. Cook the Pancetta: Bring a large sauté pan to medium heat (think "4" out of a scale of "1-10" on an electric stove). Add the olive oil and pancetta and cook, stirring occasionally until lightly browned, about 4-5 minutes.

Step 2. Add Shallot and Garlic: Remove the pancetta and set aside. Add the shallot and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Do not allow the garlic to brown.

Step 3: Cherry Tomatoes and Pasta: Add the cherry tomatoes to the saute pan, gently stirring, cook for 6-8 minutes.
Meanwhile, start the pasta. Cook the pasta until 1 minute short of al dente. It will finish cooking in the sauce at the end.
Pasta Tip: The timing for al dente listed on the pasta packaging is a good guide, but it is not always reliable. Some companies have a more accurate cook time than others. If you are not sure, check the pasta once or twice a few minutes before the allotted time. Use tongs or a slotted spoon to remove a piece of pasta, run it under cold water until it's not too hot to eat, and taste test.
More on Pasta: If you love a "saucier" sauce, reserve 1-2 cups of the pasta water which can be added to the sauce at the end according to your taste preferences.

Step 4: White Wine and Butter: Bring the temperature of the pan up slightly to just above medium (a setting of "6" out of "10"). Add the white wine and allow to simmer for roughly 3 minutes or until you can no longer smell the wine as it cooks. Add the butter and stir gently as it melts.
Cooking Tip: The pancetta has quite a bit of salt in it and your butter might too. Depending on your salt preferences, you can add a pinch of salt here and then check again at the end and adjust if needed.
Step 5: Pancetta and Peas: Add the pancetta back in (set aside earlier) and the frozen peas.

Step 6. Finish the Sauce: Stir the peas and pancetta into the sauce and allow to warm through, about 1-2 minutes.
Step 7. Finish the Pasta in the Sauce: Add the pasta and stir to combine, 1-2 minutes until heated through. The pasta will soak up some of the sauce and finish cooking to al dente. Remove from the heat and serve.
Cooking Tip: If you want to serve the pasta and the sauce separately you can absolutely do that too. Just boil the pasta until al dente and serve the sauce and the pasta separately. The pasta won't soak up the sauce and flavor, but it will still taste great. This may be helpful if you have picky eaters.
🍽️ How to Serve and Store:
To Serve: Here are a few ideas for serving.
- Salad: When we are having pasta we often serve a salad as a first course. It helps fill you up so you don't over eat when it comes to the pasta. It's a great way to incorporate extra veggies.
- Parmesan: Sprinkle on some freshly grated parmesan cheese.
- Crusty Bread: Warm a loaf of crusty bread in the oven and serve alongside the pasta.
- Garlic Bread: For an even more indulgent dinner, make some garlic bread to serve alongside the pasta.
To Store: Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Reheat gently in the microwave by heating the pasta at a lower power level. Start with 1 minute at 50% power and go from there.
Common Issues and How to Avoid Them
- Overcooked Pasta: The finished pasta in this dish should be al dente. To achieve that, check the package directions for how to cook the pasta, but know that the timing may not necessarily be accurate. You want to stop cooking the pasta before it is al dente so that the last minute or two of cooking happens in the pan with the sauce.
- Use tongs or a slotted spoon to remove a piece of pasta from the boiling water and run it under cold water. Take a bite to determine whether or not it is almost al dente. In the cross section of the pasta, you should see a lighter line of undercooked pasta. It should be firm, but give you the impression that 1 or 2 minutes in sauce will do the trick.
- Soggy Peas: Frozen peas are added right at the end with just enough time to warm through. Do not be tempted to add them earlier or leave the sauté pan on longer in order to avoid overcooking the peas and making them soggy.
- Not Saucy Enough: If you find that the sauce is not saucy enough, you can add some reserved pasta water to the dish.

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If you tried these Pasta with Pancetta and Peas or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. I'd love to hear from you!

Pasta with Pancetta and Peas
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 4 oz pancetta
- 1 shallot, minced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1½ lbs cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced in half
- ¼ cup white wine
- 3 tablespoon butter
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 lb pasta (high quality if possible *see note: rigatoni, penne or "calamari" shaped pasta)
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Bring a large sauté pan to medium heat. On an electric stove, this will be a setting of “4” on a scale of “1-10”. Add the pancetta and sautéfor 5 minutes until lightly browned.
- Remove the pancetta and set aside. Add the shallot and sauté, stirring occasionally for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the cherry tomatoes, and gently stir occasionally for 6-8 minutes until they soften and have started to release their juices but are still intact. Season with a pinch of salt.
- Meanwhile, prepare the pasta. Cook the pasta for 1 minute less than is indicated as al dente on the package. You want the pasta to be just shy of al dente so that you can “finish” the pasta in the sauce where it will cook for another 1-2 minutes
- Turn the heat up slightly to a “6” out of “1-10”. Add the white wine and allow to simmer for 2-3 minutes or until you no longer smell the wine cooking. Reduce the heat to medium (“4”). Add the butter and allow to melt. Stir gently to combine the sauce.
- Add the frozen peas and pancetta. Stir to combine.
- Add the pasta stirring to combine and warm through for 1-2 minutes. Taste, and add salt if needed.
- Remove from the heat and serve.
Notes
- White Wine: Use a dry white wine that you would enjoy drinking. Or if you prefer you can skip this step. If you do skip the wine, I would recommend not substituting or skipping other ingredients like the pancetta.
- Pasta: If possible, choose high-quality Italian imported pasta made with durum wheat semolina that has been slow-dried. It will taste much better (be sure not to overcook it), and it will become one of the stars of the dish. Otherwise, for a less expensive approach, my favorite brand is Barilla. Choose rigatoni, penne, or a wide fat pasta shape like this “calamari” shaped pasta.
- Al Dente Pasta: The timing for al dente listed on the pasta packaging is a good guide, but it is not always reliable. Some companies have a more accurate cooking time than others. If you are not sure, check the pasta once or twice a few minutes before the allotted time. Use tongs or a slotted spoon to remove a piece of pasta, run it under cold water until it's not too hot to eat, and taste test.
- Reserving Pasta Water: If you love a "saucier" sauce, reserve 1-2 cups of pasta water which can be added to the sauce at the end according to your taste preferences.
- Adding Salt: The pancetta has quite a bit of salt in it and your butter might too. Depending on your salt preferences, add a pinch of salt to the tomatoes as they are cooking. Check again at the end and adjust if needed.
- Serving the Sauce Separately: If you want to serve the pasta and the sauce separately you can absolutely do that too. Just boil the pasta until al dente and serve the sauce and the pasta separately. The pasta won't soak up the sauce and flavor, but it will still taste great. This may be helpful if you have picky eaters.
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