Pasta e ceci

Half the chickpeas blended, and the pasta cooked in the soup so its starch thickens it.

Fish. Not vegetarian — contains fish.

Ingredients

• 250 g dried chickpeas, soaked overnight
• 200 g ditalini or other small short pasta
• 2 sprigs rosemary
• 4 garlic cloves, sliced
• 3 anchovy fillets in oil
• 1 tablespoon tomato puree
• 1.2 litres water
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper

Method

1. TWO THINGS MAKE THIS CREAMY AND NEITHER IS CREAM: half the chickpeas are blended, and the pasta cooks in the soup so its starch stays in the pot.
2. Simmer the drained chickpeas in the water with one sprig of rosemary for 1 hour 30 minutes, until a chickpea crushes against the roof of your mouth. Keep every drop of the liquid.
3. Lift out half the chickpeas and blend them with a ladle of that liquid until smooth.
4. In a wide pan, warm the oil with the garlic and the second rosemary sprig over a low heat, then add the anchovies and press them until they dissolve. Stir in the tomato puree and let it darken for 1 minute.
5. Add the whole chickpeas, the blend and the rest of the cooking liquid. It should look too thin. It will not stay that way.
6. TIP THE DRY PASTA STRAIGHT IN and simmer, stirring often, for the time on the packet plus 2 minutes. Boiling it separately and spooning soup over it is a different and worse dish -- the starch is the thickener.
7. Off the heat, covered, 5 minutes. Salt and a lot of pepper. It thickens as it stands, so loosen with hot water if it sets too far.

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