Lagane e Ceci

Wide flat ribbons finished in the water the chickpeas cooked in.

Vegan.

Ingredients

• 300 g semolina flour and 150 ml warm water, for the pasta
• 300 g dried chickpeas, soaked overnight
• 4 garlic cloves, whole
• 1 dried chilli
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• 1.5 teaspoons salt

Method

1. Soak the chickpeas overnight and simmer them with the bay and two whole garlic cloves for about 90 minutes. Salt them only when soft, and KEEP ALL THE WATER.
2. Make an eggless semolina dough, rest it an hour, and roll it to 2 mm.
3. CUT WIDE RIBBONS, 2 cm across and a hand long. Lagane are broad and flat and slightly rough, which is what lets the chickpea starch cling to them.
4. Warm the oil with the remaining garlic and the crumbled chilli, then add about two thirds of the chickpeas.
5. BOIL THE PASTA IN THE CHICKPEA WATER, not in fresh water, and give it 4 minutes. That water is thick with starch and it is the sauce — there is no other liquid in this dish.
6. Lift the pasta straight into the pan with a ladle of its water and toss hard for a minute until it binds.
7. Nothing here is fried and nothing is crisp: this is a soft dish throughout, which is what separates it from ciceri e tria.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Italy · All recipes