Pasta with Mustard Greens & Pancetta
This quick pasta starts and ends in the skillet. It’s flavorful with a zesty bite from the mustard greens, salty note from the pancetta and a healthy pinch of lemon zest to tie it all together. Taylor is a big fan of mustard greens and bacon paired together and we had some good quality pancetta on hand so I used that instead. However, bacon works just fine too and for my vegetarian friends out there, try topping this with toasted sunflower seeds mixed with a pinch of sea salt and smoked paprika for a “smokey” flair. I bet that’d be pretty darn delicious.
This meal tastes best with a glass of red wine and some good company to share the feast with. Grab a fork!
Pasta with Mustard Greens & Pancetta
Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 15-20 minutes Serves: 4
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 pound pancetta or thick cut bacon, diced
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 bunch of mustard greens, thinly sliced
- grated zest of 1 lemon
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- pinch flakey sea salt
- 12 ounces spaghetti
- freshly grated parmesan cheese (optional)
Preparation
- Fill a large pot of lightly salted water and bring to a boil.
- While you're waiting for the water to boil heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the diced pancetta and cook, stirring occasionally, until crispy. Stir in the garlic and continue to cook, stirring occasionally until fragrant. Add the mustard greens and cook until they turn bright green, about 1-2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon zest, lemon juice and pinch of salt.
- Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook until al dente. Drain (reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid).
- Add pasta to the skillet with the pancetta and greens. Toss well, adding the reserved cooking liquid if need be. Season to taste with freshly grated parmesan cheese if using.
Notes
*Use this recipe as a guide *Adjust measurements and ingredients as necessary
This pasta looks so fabulous and healthy. I grew a garden a few years ago and the mustard greens were one of my favorite things!
Andrea! It was so lovely to turn the page in my just received Eating Well Magazine and see your & Taylors smiling faces in the beautiful picture of Tumbleweed Farm! I felt like I had an inside scoop and after following you for sometime it was almost like I found a friend featured in the magazine! What an amazing article and as always delicious looking recipes all presented in a stunning spread! Congrats!
This makes me SO happy! Love it!
❤️
Andrea, I was al ready to make this for dinner tonight and then remembered we were going to our neighbors home for a birthday celebration dinner. Tomorrow night for sure though, this will be our dinner!!!!! On a completely different topic, I know you are out in the sun all day just like I am. Some days I know you are able to wear long sleeves for sun protection, but on those days that are scorchers, like it is here on the East Coast, what type of sunscreen do you use. I am forever searching for a good sunscreen that doesn’t feel gross on my skin when I am sweating like a pig, hahahaha. I always love to hear what other people use and hopefully it is something I can easily get a hold of in my tiny little town 🙂 Thanks again for always giving us such great recipes to make the most of our gardens and all the bounty they provide!!!! Have a great week.
Debbie in Virginia
I hope you love this as much as we do when you give it a whirl! Let me know how it turns out.
As for the sunscreen…..I’m a sunglasses and hat girl in the afternoons. I haven’t found a good sunscreen that works and HATE the organic ones that feel like cake on my skin. If you find a good one will you let me know? I’ve even used coconut oil on my skin (it’s got spf in it) but it’s too greasy and comes off in the sweaty afternoons. I wish I had a good one to recommend but I’m as lost as you are! Keep me posted if you find a good one!
Okay, so dinner was a huge success tonight!!!!! As you always say at the end of your recipes, adjust ingredients as necessary, so I did. I don’t have mustard greens in my garden growing, but I have swiss chard and a friend gave me some collard greens from her CSA box and I used bacon instead of Pancetta!! It was so delicious and so quick to pull together!!!! I just can’t tell you enough how happy I am to have found your blog at the end of this past Winter. You have given me so many great meals to cook and new ideas for how to use my beloved veggies that I fuss over and grow with love. Thank you, thank you, thank you Andrea!!!
Also, thanks for responding about the sunscreen. They are all so icky and I am not sure we will ever find one that isn’t horrible feeling on our skin in the hot, humid sun. Oh well, hats and sunglasses it shall be until that day………..
Have a great rest of your week!!
XXOO
Debbie
Yay! this makes me so happy! Love it! Happy cooking and experimenting with what you’ve got in your kitchen!
LOVED this pasta dish. 2 tbsp lemon juice = about a whole lemon and I think the extra juice can’t hurt. I used bacon and it was seriously rich and fabulous. Will definitely make again. Just waiting on more mustard greens!!
I’m so happy to hear!!