Pasta e Piselli – Vegetarian Pasta and Peas Recipe

Pasta e piselli, or pasta and peas, is a simple Italian pasta dish that’s easy to make with just a few ingredients.  The creamy pasta and the sweet peas pair beautifully with salty parmesan cheese to create a bowl of ultimate comfort.

Spring is in in the air, and I find myself tempted by the flavors of the season. Have you ever had a bowl of pasta e piselli? This rustic Italian pasta and peas recipe is typically served with ditalini pasta, in a broth-y sauce, sometimes with crispy bits of pancetta. My version swaps out the broth for a creamy basil pesto sauce made with cottage cheese to kick up the protein. I’m also swapping the traditional ditalini pasta for a high protein elbow noodle.

I decided to keep my pasta and peas recipe vegetarian because it really doesn’t need the meat, but you can easily sprinkle crispy pancetta or bacon on top as a garnish, or serve it alongside a slab of your holiday ham.

Why You’ll Love my Pasta and Peas Recipe

Simple Ingredients

Nothing fancy here. Fresh or frozen peas, a batch of your favorite protein pasta, cottage cheese, parmesan cheese and some fresh basil.

High Protein Vegetarian Pasta

I’m often asked to create more higher protein vegetarian dishes. And this Pasta e piselli is the PERFECT high protein vegetarian comfort food. This pasta and peas recipe has an extra boost of protein 3 ways – protein pasta, a creamy cottage cheese pesto sauce, and from the peas themselves!

Quick and Easy Recipe

Pasta e piselli cooks up in just a few minutes. In less than the time it takes your pasta to cook, you’ll be able to whip up this creamy basil sauce. Mix together and heat gently. AND DINNER IS SERVED! It’s really that easy.

Pasta e Piselli Ingredients

This pasta e piselli recipe contains just a few simple, nutritious ingredients.

Pasta

Any small shaped pasta noodle will work in pasta e piselli. I wanted to kick up the protein so I used my favorite protein pasta. I love this brand because it just tastes like regular pasta to me. They have a variety of pasta shapes, too!

Peas

You can use fresh peas or frozen peas. I used frozen in my pasta and peas recipe.

Parmesan Cheese

I used a basic grated parmesan cheese (the kind that comes in a green shaker) and it works perfectly. I like garnishing my pasta e piselli by shaving off slices of the more expensive wedges of parmesan, but think the cheaper shaker cheese works great for the sauce.

Cottage Cheese

We’re going to be blending the cottage cheese into delightful cream sauce. If you’re not a cottage cheese fan, hear me out. Neither am I in its typical form. Something about a chunky dairy product totally grosses me out if I’m being honest. But blended with milk and parmesan into a creamy sauce? It is utter perfection. So promise me you’ll try this pasta and peas recipe even if you don’t like cottage cheese. I used a low fat cottage cheese in this recipe.

Milk

I used a 2% low fat milk. You can also substitute almond milk if desired, but I have not tested this recipe with almond milk, so I can’t speak to how or if it will change the flavor.

Fresh Basil

Sweet basil is another of my favorite spring flavors. I add a bit of basil to the cream sauce to kick up the flavor (it tastes like pesto) and also because it makes the pasta e piselli sauce a gorgeous sage green color.

Cornstarch

Don’t leave out the cornstarch. This ingredient will help stabilize the sauce so it stays creamy and gets thick. You’ll still need to be careful not to overheat and break the sauce, but cornstarch helps the cottage cheese to stay creamy.

How to Make Pasta and Peas – Step by Step

Start by cooking your protein pasta according to package directions. When there is one minute left, add your fresh or frozen peas to the boiling water.

While the pasta is cooking, we’ll make our creamy basil sauce. Add cottage cheese, basil, spices, grated parmesan cheese, milk and cornstarch to a small blender. Blend until smooth.

Once the sauce is ready, you’ll place a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add sauce to the pan, and dump in the drained hot pasta and peas.

Stir the pasta e piselli gently to coat in the sauce and heat through, about 2 minutes. Sauce will thicken slightly as it heats. Be careful not to turn the heat up too high as this could cause the cottage cheese to break.

Garnish with additional parmesan and basil if desired. Serve immediately!

FAQ for the Pasta e Piselli

Can you double this pasta and peas recipe?

Yes! you can double or triple this recipe if desired.

Why did my cottage cheese sauce break?

If your sauce separates, it’s because it was heated too high. We try to combat this by adding cornstarch to the sauce as it acts as a stabilizer. But the cottage cheese sauce will still break if you heat it too high. That’s why I recommend pouring the sauce directly into a cold pan on the stove, turning it on to medium-low, and your pasta and gently stirring for about 2 minutes. That makes sure everything is creamy and warmed through, but doesn’t allow the sauce to simmer or get too hot.

Can I use another pasta for this pasta e piselli recipe?

Any small shape pasta shape can be used. I prefer to use my favorite protein pasta to kick up the protein in this dish, but you can use any pasta you like.