Pasta E Ceci (Pasta and Chickpeas)

Name: Pasta E Ceci (Pasta and Chickpeas)
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 1 h 10 min
Yield: 1 pot, 4-6 serving(s)
Ingredients: 4 ounces smoked pancetta, diced (or bacon); 1 teaspoon olive oil; 1 medium onion, small dice; 1 stalk celery, small dice; 2 garlic cloves, minced; 1 ounce pimiento, diced (or roasted red peppers); 1/8-1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper or 1/8-1/4 teaspoon hot pepper flakes; 1/4 teaspoon anchovy paste (optional); 1 (796 ml) can diced tomatoes (3-4 cups); 1 (156 ml) can tomato paste; 2 cups chicken broth; 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar; 1 bay leaf; 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil; 1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas; 1 1/2 cups small-cut pasta (or broken long-cut pasta, shells, ditalini, broken spaghetti, etc); salt and pepper; water

Submitted by Megohm

"A nice refresher from Pasta Fagioli. Super satisfying, inexpensive and easy to make, I could live off this stuff, and often do."

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photo by Megohm

Ready In:: 1hr 10mins
Ingredients:: 18
Yields:: 1 pot
Serves:: 4-6

ingredients

4 ounces smoked pancetta, diced (or bacon)
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 medium onion, small dice
1 stalk celery, small dice
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 ounce pimiento, diced (or roasted red peppers)
¹⁄₈ - ¹⁄₄ teaspoon cayenne pepper or 1/8-1/4 teaspoon hot pepper flakes
¹⁄₄ teaspoon anchovy paste (optional)
1 (796 ml) can diced tomatoes (3-4 cups)
1 (156 ml) can tomato paste
2 cups chicken broth
1 ¹⁄₂ teaspoons sugar
1 bay leaf
1 ¹⁄₂ teaspoons dried basil
1 ¹⁄₂ cups cooked chickpeas
1 ¹⁄₂ cups small-cut pasta (or broken long-cut pasta, shells, ditalini, broken spaghetti, etc)
salt and pepper
water

directions

In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, add olive oil, and begin to saute the pancetta or bacon over medium-high heat. When sufficiently browned, remove all but 2 tsp or so of the fat.
Add onions and celery, sweat three minutes or so until they soften, add garlic, cook 1 minute or until fragrant. Add pimento (or roasted red peppers), cook for a minute or so, then stir in hot pepper flakes (or cayenne), and anchovy paste, if you’re using it.
Add tomatoes, paste, and chicken broth, stirring until tomato paste is smooth. Add sugar, bay leaf and basil. Make sure it comes to a simmer if it already isn’t, then turn heat down to medium-low, cover and let simmer for at least 40 minutes or so, stirring fairly frequently.
Add pasta, and a little extra water if needed (I went with a bit under 1.5 cups of additional water), stir, and simmer, till pasta is tender. You will need to stir pretty frequently, or else surrender yourself to bottom-stick-stew.
Top with some Parmesan or Romano.

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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

Megohm

Culinary school drop-out (happy cook)! My name is Meg, as my public name might suggest, and I'm 20 years old. So far, I've been a cook my whole life, at home and in restaurants, working as a Baker's Assistant right now. I was raised in a commercial bakery and general store as well run by my aunt and mom. I'm engaged to an amazing guy, who I met in high school in a restaurant prep course. We both went to college for Culinary Arts/Chef Training, but neither found the program very satisfying. As it stands, we're both happiest cooking, so long as it's not in a kitchen lab. I've been nosing around 'Zaar since I was about 13 or 14, and it's been a huge source of learning for me, back when I didn't even know what a roux was, haha. If you've seen me around before, I'm the former SugarMegnolia. Also, I write a blog, however, I'm not always the best at keeping up with it, but try to put in my best effort whenever I get around to writing. The link is here, please give it a quick look-see!

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