We went to Whole Foods where we picked up our fresh ingredients:
I opted for Conchiglie shells which I found to hold the cream sauce rather well. I also asked the butcher to cut the Speck pretty thick so that I could dice it up appropriately. As an appetizer we grilled some slices of fresh baguette (brushed with olive oil) with mozzarella, basil, oregano and a few of the tomatoes we slow-roasted for the pasta. It's definitely important to use fresh ingredients (no dried herbs, no canned vegetables, etc) when you cook. Your food will only taste as fresh as the ingredients that go into it. I let the speck & pecorino cream sauce cook down more slowly than the original recipe (for about 15 minutes). The flavors had more time to develop and the sauce turned out perfectly. When I was done, I mixed the al-dente pasta with the peas in a serving dish. I then poured the speck & pecorino cream sauce over the pasta and topped it with the slow-roasted tomatoes, fresh basil, oregano and a small bit of the cheese on top. We paired our meal with a bottle of a Coppola blend (I had never tried it before...and I thought it was just 'ok.'). For dessert, Brian and I each had a chocolate canoli.
We spent the next hour following our meal in a food-induced coma and then went to bed. For breakfast the next morning, I ate the leftovers while Brian was still asleep.
Recipe via What Katie Ate
