Pea and lamb pasta
This easy pasta dish is packed with tasty spring flavors.
Servings: 2 approx
Calories: 847kcal
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Ingredients
For sauce
- 1 small shallot or onion (1 shallot is around ¼ small onion)
- 1 clove garlic or more if small
- 1 tablespoon mint finely chopped volume
- 8 oz ground lamb lamb mince
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin or more to taste
- ⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes or more to taste
- ¼ teaspoon pepper approximately
- ¼ teaspoon salt approximately
- ¼ cup white wine or a little more, as needed
- 1 cup frozen peas
- ½ lemon zest ie from ½ lemon (plus a little juice, optionally)
- ½ cup pecorino approximately, loose packed, or can use parmesan
Pasta to serve with
- 6 oz orecchiette or other similar pasta, see notes
- 1 pinch salt generous, to salt the cooking water
Instructions
- Finely chop the shallot/onion and garlic. Remove mint leaves from the stem and finely chop before measuring (1tbsp is around 6 or so leaves). A little more is fine, too.
- Warm a medium pot/pan over a medium-high heat. Add the ground lamb, spread out and brown all over, getting a little sear on it if possible. Turn as needed and break up the chunks as it cooks. Once it has browned all over, push the meaty to one side and add the onion on the other side. Let them cook in the lamb fat, stirring now and then, until the onion softens Add the garlic and cook a minute more, then mix through with the lamb.
- Add the cumin, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper and mix through. Then add the wine and stir to remove any browning from the pot/pan. Reduce the heat and cover the pot and let the mixture simmer while you cook the pasta.
- Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions then drain, reserving some of the pasta cooking water.
- Add the peas and mint to the lamb mixture during the last minute of the pasta cooking and let cook a minute. Then add the lemon zest and pecorino. Stir everything through so it melts into the sauce. If needed, add a little pasta water to help thin out - it won't be particularly "saucy" but shouldn't be too dry either. Add the pasta into the lamb sauce and mix everything though then serve, topped with a bit more cheese.
Video
Notes
This sauce works particularly well with orecchiette as the little round indents are the perfect shape to hold both the peas and the ground lamb. But if you prefer, you could use other pasta shapes - I'd suggest something that will similarly let the ingredients cling a little, such as maybe cavatelli, conchiglie or casarecce.
If you prefer, you can also start making the sauce by softening the onion then adding the ground lamb - both ways work.
By the quantities above, this is relatively pea-heavy and light on spices (so the more delicate flavors come through) - feel free to adapt to taste.
Nutrition
Calories: 847kcal | Carbohydrates: 82g | Protein: 42g | Fat: 35g | Saturated Fat: 16g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 13g | Cholesterol: 109mg | Sodium: 930mg | Potassium: 693mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 2180IU | Vitamin C: 14mg | Calcium: 353mg | Iron: 5mg
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