Pasta e Ceci

Name: Pasta e Ceci (Chickpea Pasta)
Yield: 6 people
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: Infused Oil or good olive oil; 1 big sprig rosemary, 1 bay leaf, a few parsley stalks, 1 sprig thyme, tied into a bouquet garni; 2 onions, 2 carrots, 1 celery stick, all peeled and cut into 3 mm dice for soffritto; 200 g tinned tomato pieces with liquid (1 small tin); Parmesan, freshly grated; 300 g ditali pasta; 2 sprigs parsley; 500 g chickpeas; good olive oil; 100 g pancetta, cut into very small lardons; 6 small dried chillies, very finely chopped or minced; 1 sprig rosemary; 1 large red chilli pepper; 4 garlic cloves, peeled and very finely chopped or minced; 4 garlic cloves; 2 bay leaves

Chickpea Pasta

Preparation info

6
people

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Alastair Little's Italian Kitchen

By Alastair Little

Published 1996

About

This presses the nostalgia button for most Italians, but is relatively unknown abroad. It’s spicy, oily, mealy and cheesy (sounds disgusting), and is Signor Belcapo’s favourite.

Ingredients

300 g ditali pasta
2 onions, 2 carrots,

Europe
Italy
Mediterranean
Breakfast
Pasta
Spicy

Method

To cook the chickpeas, soak them in cold water overnight. They will double in size. Rinse extremely well and cover with water in a large pan. Bring to the boil over a high heat, turn down and skim off the very copious scum. Add the chickpea cooking ingredients and simmer for 1 ½ hours, skimming occasionally. Taste for doneness, then allow to cool.

To bring the pasta e ceci together, put