Vegetarian pasta e piselli is a simple one-pot dish that uses only 5 ingredients! Onion is sauteed in olive oil, then peas and water are added. Finally the pasta cooks right in the broth, and releases its starches to add a beautiful creamy consistency to the dish. Don't forget the parmigiano!
I will never tire of pasta e piselli. It's a quick dish to make (25 minutes!), but it's also comforting. And you don't get that often. Usually comfort dishes take hours to make. But not this one.
I grew up with pasta e piselli, both with this vegetarian version, and the pasta e piselli with tomato and pancetta version. It's something nonna and my mom would make often in our Italian kitchen.
And it's a dish I continue to make to this day for my family. Hopefully my son will make it when he grows up, too. Wouldn't that be a beautiful thing?
Let's get cooking!
Top tips
- Blending part of the peas is optional but highly recommended! It will give the dish a beautiful creamy consistency.
- I use water in this recipe but you could also use vegetable broth
- If you'd like the dish a bit more soupy/liquid, feel free to add more water towards the end of the pasta cooking process
Recipe
Vegetarian Pasta e Piselli
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil extra virgin
- ½ cup onion chopped into small dice
- 2 cups frozen peas
- 4 cups water
- 170 grams small pasta ditalini or small shells
- 3 tablespoon parmigiano reggiano grated
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- To a large pan or pot, over medium heat, add the olive oil.
- Once olive oil is heated through, add the chopped onion.
- Once onion is fragrant, add the peas. Cook for about 1-2 minutes. Pour in the water.
- Once water and peas come to a boil, remove about 1 ¼ cup of peas and a bit of broth to a measuring cup or jar.
- Using an immersion blender, blend the peas until creamy.
- Add the cream mixture back into the pan.
- Once it comes back to a boil, add in the pasta.
- Cook the pasta until tender. Remove from heat.
- Off heat, add a bit of olive oil and grated parmigiano. Stir. This will give the dish an even creamier consistency.
- Serve, top with more grated parmigiano and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
- Store in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 3 days
- To reheat, place in a sauce pan on the stove and warm through over medium heat. The pasta will likely have absorbed most oof the liquid by this point, so feel free to add a bit more water to the saucepan to rehydrate.
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