Orecchiette with Tomatoes, Peas and Pancetta

Slightly brothy yet chunky, pasta e piselli lands somewhere between soup and generously sauced pasta. Home cook and Pompei resident Antonella Scala taught us her recipe, which we adapted, for an ultra-easy one-pot affair. To form the flavor base, we use the rendered fat from pancetta crisped in olive oil to sweat a chopped onion until softened and sweet. Chopped plum tomatoes followed by a couple tablespoons of tomato paste cook down in the pot, supplying depth of flavor and umami. We cook the pasta directly in the mix, not separately, which lends the sauce starchiness and body, then peas, parsley and pecorino are stirred in at the finish. Scala used a mix of small pasta shapes, but we chose orecchiette and cavatelli, cup-like shapes that capture peas and boast a hearty, almost dumpling-like texture. At the end of cooking, be sure to wait about five minutes before serving. This allows the consistency to thicken slightly.