There are dishes that need no introduction. Pasta with peas and ham is one of them: you'll find it in grandmothers' recipe books, Sunday lunches, and handwritten notebooks that no one ever throws away. Few ingredients, quick cooking, always satisfying results. It's the kind of recipe that works on a Tuesday night with what you have in the fridge and works just as well when you have guests for lunch.
The real variable, as often happens with simple dishes, is the quality of the ham. And it's worth pausing for a moment on this before turning on the stove.
Pasta with peas and ham: the classic recipe
The most common version uses cooked ham: soft, delicate, blending with the sauce without overpowering the peas. It's the traditional recipe, the one you probably remember.
Ingredients for 4 servings:
- 320 g pasta (farfalle, rigatoni or sedanini)
- 400 g fresh or frozen peas
- 200 g CLAI High-Quality Production Chain Cooked Ham, thickly sliced, diced
- 1 medium onion
- 50 g grated Parmesan cheese
- Extra virgin olive oil to taste
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- A few fresh mint leaves (optional)
Method
Thinly slice the onion and sauté it in a pan with a drizzle of oil over low heat for 8-10 minutes, until it becomes translucent and soft. Don't let it brown: it should remain sweet, not bitter.
Add the peas and a ladle of hot water. If using fresh peas, cook for 10-12 minutes. If frozen, 6-7 minutes is enough: don't overdo it, they should remain whole and have a bit of texture. Season with salt sparingly.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta in plenty of salted water. Drain al dente, reserving a ladle of cooking water. Add the diced cooked ham to the peas, increase the heat for one minute, then add the pasta directly to the pan. Mix well, add a splash of cooking water if needed to cream. Turn off the heat, add the Parmesan cheese and, if you like, a few mint leaves broken by hand. Serve immediately.
The CLAI High-Quality Production Chain Cooked Ham is made with 100% Italian meat from CLAI farmers, slow-cooked at low temperatures. It is gluten-free, glutamate-free, and free of milk and dairy products. It is not available for online purchase, but you can find it at retailers or contact CLAI directly.
The cured ham variation: pasta with peas and Antico Rustico
There is also another way, less traditional but equally valid. Cured ham added raw, almost at the end of cooking, gives a completely different result: saltier, more fragrant, with a complexity that cooked ham cannot provide.
The key is not to cook it. Aged cured ham should be placed on hot pasta off the heat, or added during the last thirty seconds of creaming: the residual heat warms it without spoiling it. If you put it in the pan from the start, it dries out, loses its tenderness, and becomes rubbery.
Ingredients for 4 servings (cured ham variation):
- 320 g pasta (farfalle or sedanini)
- 400 g fresh or frozen peas
- 150 g Zuarina Antico Rustico Block, thinly sliced or cut into strips
- 1 medium onion
- 50 g grated pecorino or Parmesan cheese
- Extra virgin olive oil to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper
Method
Follow the same procedure as the classic version for the onion and pea base. Cook and drain the pasta, cream it in the pan with the peas and a splash of cooking water. Turn off the heat. Only at this point add the strips of cured ham, stirring gently: the heat of the pasta warms them without cooking them. Finish with grated cheese and plenty of black pepper.
The result is a dish that seems different from the original recipe. The peas remain sweet, the ham brings saltiness and aroma, and the cheese binds everything together. It's a version worth trying at least once.
Cooked or cured ham: which to choose
There is no single answer. It depends on what you're looking for in the dish.
Cooked ham blends with the sauce, almost melting with the peas, and results in a softer and more homogeneous dish. It's the right choice if you want a well-rounded, mellow first course suitable for everyone.
Cured ham remains recognizable in the dish, brings a more decisive note, and transforms a simple recipe into something more interesting. It's the right choice if you have good ham on hand and want its flavor to shine through.
Fresh or frozen peas: season matters
From April to June, if you can find fresh peas in their pods, use them. The flavor is more intense, slightly herbaceous, with a sweetness that frozen peas cannot fully replicate. A kilogram of pods yields about 350-400 g of shelled peas: calculate carefully before buying.
Out of season, good quality frozen peas are a perfectly valid solution. The important thing is not to overcook them: they should remain whole, with a slight resistance when bitten. If you throw them in the pan and forget them, they turn into a puree.
The right pasta shape
Farfalle are the classic choice for this recipe, and not just for aesthetic reasons. The bow-tie shape collects the sauce in its central folds and traps the peas in its "wings": every forkful has everything. Rigatoni sedanini work similarly. Rigatoni are sturdier and hold up well if the sauce is thicker. Spaghetti, on the other hand, tend to slide off the peas: technically they work, but the dish is less satisfying to eat.
The Zuarina Antico Rustico Block: product notes
The Zuarina Antico Rustico Block is made from selected pork legs from Paduan pigs, aged for at least 16 months in the stone farmhouse adjacent to the Langhirano facility. The ingredients are only two: pork leg and sea salt. No preservatives, no gluten, no milk or dairy products.
It is a ham with a recognizable sweetness, which makes it versatile both on a platter and in cooking. The vacuum-packed block format of approximately 1.2 kg is convenient to have in the refrigerator: it can be sliced as needed and keeps well for weeks.
