Chiocciole pasta with a creamy smoked bacon and pea sauce

Tonight I dabbled with a new cookbook we got by Jaime Oliver.  Oh man was it a winner!  To say the least Sharon and I each had two helpings, which is not a stretch on any given night, but this was a Good dinner.  The lemon, mint and bacon flavors go really well together, which I was not sure about as I was cooking it up.

I made a few changes, nothing major but it needed to be kicked up a notch.

Here it is:
Ingredients
1 pound of smoked bacon
small bunch of mint
sea salt and fresh ground black pepper
1 pound Chiocciole pasta (it looks like a snail shell)
a pat of butter
2 cups frozen peas
5 tablespoons heavy cream
1 lemon
Parmesan

Prep
Finely slice the bacon
Pick the mint leaves and finely chop the mint.

Cooking
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil.  Add the pasta and cook according to the directions.  Heat the oil and butter on high in a large frying pan.  Add the bacon and grind a good dose of pepper over it.  Fry until crisp.  When it is crisp add the frozen peas and shake the pan.  Wait two minutes and add the cream and mint, lower the heat to medium.  Drain the pasta and add to the frying pan.  Halve the lemon and squeeze both halves over the pasta.  Use a spoon to combine the ingredients.  Sprinkle the parmesan over the top and shake the pan to distribute.

It seems weird, I know, but the flavors combine really well at the end of it.

As I look back on it you could add some crushed red pepper to kick it up a bit if you think it needs it, which I don't.

Don't forget if you're not drinking while you're cooking you're not cooking.

LC