Farfelle with Spinach and Pancetta

Make your next Italian dinner a little more fun with farfelle, also known as bow-tie pasta. This Farfelle with Spinach and Pancetta recipe is a great choice for a main dish recipe any day of the week, or it can also be made for lunch or your next buffet table. This pasta recipe is easy to make and loved by everyone. Farelle comes from the Italian word butterfly, maybe I'll start calling it butterfly pasta from now on. Its cuter, isn't it?

I don't cook pasta that often, I must admit, but when I do, I prefer to use something besides the typical penne or macaroni pasta. Farfelle is a nice change from time to time and its great for both a young crowd, your kids, or even your next weekend ladies luncheon party. Pretty bows can be elegantly arranged on a nice dinner platter and served with your favourite sauce and vegetables.

I love cooking and entertaining so when I have the chance to surf online, I am checking out different cooking sites and recipes resources, finding new ideas and inspiration of what to cook next. It's nice to have dinners and weekend brunches with an Italian and/or Mediterranean focus. One of my recent finds is the site, Cooking With Nonna. Its great. Traditional and classic recipes, made easy. You can even watch a few videos and follow along.

This farewell with spinach and pancetta recipe is a great way to get your greens while having the rich and satisfying flavour of premium grade Italian-bacon. Paired perfectly with some red wine and the kids will loved it too. I have made this recipes a few times swapping the spinach for kale, the superfood of the year (again), and it was fantastic. Next time you're planning a dinner party or just want to jazz up your pasta night at home with the kiddies, try some butterfly pasta, I'm sure there will be no leftovers! Bon appetit.

The ingredients you will need for this recipe include fearful pasta, sliced garlic, baby portobello mushrooms sliced, baby spinach, cubed pancetta, white wine, grated pecorino Romano cheese and some extra virgin olive oil.

To start cook the farfalle pasta in some salted water until slightly under Al Dente. Then heat the oil in a large frying pan on medium-high heat and add the sliced garlic. Cook the garlic for approximately 30 seconds and add the cubed Pancetta. Then saute the garlic and Pancetta for approximately two minutes, then add the wine. Lower the heat to medium-low and allow the alcohol to reduce. Then add the mushrooms and salt to taste and cook until softened, about five minutes. Add the baby spinach and cook just until wilted. Add the fearful pasta and toss for approximately one minute. Add the Pecorino over the top of the pasta and turn off the heat. Toss the farfalle pasta recipe one more time allowing the heat to melt the cheese.

Then serve immediately with more grated cheese on top if desired.

You will love the Cooking with Nonna recipe site. Here you will find a lot of authentic Italian recipe from all the regions of Italy. The site is created by Rosella Rago, who is also the host of the new online web series of the same name, Cooking with Nonna. On the site you will find everything from appetizer recipes, drink recipes, main dish recipes and Italian dessert recipes. You will also find lots of step by step recipe video tutorials that are just like having a one on one cooking lesson with an Italian grandmother. These Italian recipes come from Italian Nonna's so you know t hey are going to be good, and have been passed on from one generation to the next.