Lemony Pasta With Chickpeas and Parsley
You can used either canned or home-cooked chickpeas in this take on the classic Italian dish pasta con ceci, which is an excellent, nutritious, quick-cooking dinner. But even more appealing is the way the soft earthiness of the chickpeas plays off the al dente pasta, coating it like a rich sauce but without a lot of fat. The whole dish is zipped up with some lemon, garlic and red pepper flakes.
- Total:
- Serves: 2 persons
Ingredients
- Kosher salt, as needed
- 8ounces regular or whole-wheat fusilli or other short, sturdy pasta
- 2cups cooked chickpeas, home-cooked or canned
- ¼cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
- 2garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
- ½onion, diced
- 1tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
- Pinch of red pepper flakes, plus more as needed
- 1 ½cups chickpea cooking liquid (from a homemade pot; do not use the liquid from the can), vegetable stock or water
- 3cups fresh parsley leaves (from 1 large bunch)
- ⅔cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus more for serving
- 1tablespoon unsalted butter
- Finely grated zest of 1/2 lemon
- Ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
Step 1
Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Add fusilli and cook until it is just shy of al dente. (It should be slightly underdone to your taste because you’ll finish cooking it in the sauce.) Drain well.Step 2
While the pasta is cooking, prepare the chickpea sauce: Place chickpeas in a large bowl and use a potato masher or a fork to lightly mash them; they should be about half-crushed.Step 3
Heat oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Add garlic cloves and fry until they are golden brown, about 2 minutes. Stir in onions, rosemary, red pepper flakes and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft, about 10 minutes. Then stir in chickpeas and the cooking liquid, stock or water. Bring to a simmer and cook gently until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes.Step 4
Stir in pasta and parsley, and cook until the pasta has finished cooking and is coated in the sauce, 1 to 2 minutes. Quickly toss in cheese, butter, lemon zest, black pepper to taste and salt if needed. Drizzle with olive oil and shower with additional cheese before serving.