Pasta e ceci - The original and creamy pasta with chickpeas (ceci)
An original Southern Italy recipe
Ingredients
- 400 g cooked dry chickpeas around 200g dry chickpeas
- 270 g Pasta, corto misto la Molisana
- 5 garlic cloves
- 2 Rosemary bunch
- 2 Roma tomatoes
- as needed Extra Virgin olive oil
- to taste black peppercorn
- to taste salt
Instructions
Cooking the chickpeas for Pasta e ceci
- First thing first, if you are using dry chickpeas make sure to soak them for at least 10-12 hours in water and bicarbonate. This will help to break down the pectin in the beans, softening their skins and reducing their cooking time.
- The day after, rinse the chickpeas and cook them in water, with a bunch of rosemary and a couple of garlic cloves. This will take around 40-50 minutes of cooking.
- Once the chickpeas will be ready, strain them but make sure to keep the cooking liquid.
Pasta e Ceci
- In a large pot, pour some EVO and make a quick soffritto with the crushed garlic clove (skin on it's fine), a little bunch of freshly picked Rosemary, and a couple of black peppercorns.
- When you start smelling at their full these three ingredients, add on the chopped fresh tomatoes or the tomato paste, making sure the heat of the olive oil is extracting all the essential flavor out. Let it cook for some minutes with a dash of white wine.
- Remove the garlic and add the cooked chickpeas.
- Start smashing part of the chickpeas with a potato smasher or a hand blender to make the pasta sauce the creamiest as possible. Add the chickpea cooking liquid and some vegetable stock (or water) and bring to a boil.
- Make sure you have just enough water to cook the pasta as you will not strain any excess out of the pot. In that water is contained all the flavor and the creaminess you will need to enjoy Pasta e ceci in the best way.
- Once the water is boiling add salt to taste and pasta and cook it al dente. (2-3 minutes less its indicated on the pasta package)
- Let it sit for a couple of minutes just for the liquid to tighten up as it cools due to starch from the chickpeas. Adjust the consistency if needed with water, stock, or aquafaba (chickpeas cooking water).
- Serve the pasta e ceci in a terracotta bowl, drizzling some EVO a sprinkle of freshly chopped rosemary and freshly ground black pepper. If you like the cheesy taste with your pasta don't be afraid to add Parmigiano or nutritional Yeast.