Apparently Erin and I were thinking along the same lines the other night, because my most recent dish was also a pasta sauce! I was craving a springy vegetable sauce, like a pasta primavera, but I decided to go with this sauce instead. It was inspired by a dish that I used to eat almost religiously at my favorite San Antonio italian restaurant – Sorrento.

First off, chop up about a half of an onion into fairly small pieces. Heat some olive oil (about 2 tbsp.) in a pan over medium high heat.   Add the onions and let them cook until translucent and soft.

Then add about a quarter cup of chopped pancetta or prosciutto and about 12 ounces of frozen peas. Cook this for about 1.5 minutes, then add two large cans of petitte diced tomatoes.  I like a combination of one can of tomatoes pureed in a blender, and the other can that has been run through the blender chop cycle for a couple of bursts.  This gives it a nice thick base as well as some smaller chunks of tomato.

Stir this all up together and let it cook until it has reduced by about a third. Mine cooked about an hour.  Stir occasionally. A few minutes before serving, add some half and half or heavy cream. I used a quarter cup of half and half, but a half cup would be even more delicious.  Heavy cream would only be better!  Serve with a nice pasta (I used whole wheat penne) and enjoy!