Photo: Pasta and Chickpeas: Minestra di Pasta e Ceci Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon rosemary leaves, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons basic tomato sauce, recipe follows, diluted with 1/2 cup boiling water
- 1 (16-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- 1/2 pound dry fettuccine, broken into short lengths
Directions
In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and rosemary and cook over medium heat until the garlic begins to brown. Add the tomato sauce and water mixture and continue to simmer.
Meanwhile, place half of the chickpeas into the bowl of a food processor and puree. Place the remaining chickpeas into a large bowl and stir in the chickpea puree, along with 1 cup of warm water. Transfer this mixture to the pot with the tomato sauce mixture and season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil and add the pasta, cooking at a boil until the pasta is tender yet al dente. Serve immediately, divide evenly among 4 warmed pasta bowls.
Basic Tomato Sauce:
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 Spanish onion, chopped in 1/4-inch dice
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves, or 1 tablespoon dried
- 1/2 medium carrot, finely shredded
- 2 (28-ounce) cans peeled whole tomatoes, crushed by hand and juices reserved
- Salt, to taste
In a 3-quart saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until soft and light golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the thyme and carrot and cook 5 minutes more, until the carrot is quite soft. Add the tomatoes and juice and bring to a boil, stirring often. Lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes until as thick as hot cereal. Season with salt and serve. This sauce holds 1 week in the refrigerator or up to 6 months in the freezer.
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By meverett
Columbia, Missouri
on December 27, 2010
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Love this recipe--but you must use SAFFRON! We have Mario Batali's cookbook and this recipe is included in that book. The cookbook says to add 1 tsp. of saffron to the oil when you add the garlic and rosemary. This ingredient is a MUST! In fact, I can't even fathom this dish without saffron--it truly is the key ingredient to the dish. Also, the cookbook does not say to dilute the sauce with water--so we never do that, either.
By browalt
covington, LA
on August 17, 2007
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This recipe was super fast and easy to prepare. I had everything on hand. It could use more garlic and maybe other spices but overall tasted very nice. I did need to add more water as the pasta cooked and I did that with boiling water a little at a time. Cannot believe how easy it was.
By absolutromantic...
Albany, NY
on July 16, 2007
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The addition of the chickpeas/pureed chickpeas to my pasta was HEAVEN! My mom and I both loved it, and it made a non-meat sauce taste extremely hearty.
My only problem with it is the flavors of the basic pasta sauce: way too simple for my taste. I added basil, oregano, rosemary, and some black pepper to the original sauce. Also, next time I plan to cook the pasta separately and just put the chickpeas in with the regular sauce, because it was difficult to fully cook the pasta without burning the mashed chickpeas that invariably migrated to the bottom of the pot.
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