Pasta e ceci - Chickpea Pasta Stew

This is the best simple pasta dish ever! It's very nutricious, very simple and still full of flavour! Italians know it best when it comes to making delicious food with simple ingredients. I don't know if it's a pasta dish or a thick soup, but it works both ways so you decide. All ingredients are long lasting pantry stuff (except the fresh parsley. Dried rosemary can substitute for fresh and celery and onions last quite long in the fridge.) so it's a very convenient dish to make, when you feel you don't want to go grocery shopping (or can't go). It has saved many of my lunch plans. The recipe is from Jamie Oliver cookbook Jamie's Italy, which I love. Jamie lists fresh parsley here optional. It really amps up the flavour of this dish, so I'm really recommending it (and so I didn't list it as optional). You can switch it to fresh basil also.

The recipe has one celery stalk. I suggest to not skip it, because it's crucial in giving that deep flavour the dish has. Even if you hate celery! I can vouch for you that once you saute it for 15-20 minutes and then cook for over half an hour the taste is not that of the raw vegetable. Even though this is (mostly) a vegetarian dish, please use chicken or beef stock (if you can) as it really deepens the flavours. I've done it once or twice with vegetable stock, but it's missing some of its characteristics then. And the same can be applied to every ingredient in the recipe (except black pepper): do not skip anything!

And lastly but not leastly: The cooking times might sound awfully long. I've tried making this with shorter simmering and sauteing times, but then flavours will not get that deep. Since the recipe is otherwise very simple, please follow the times I've given here. In the original recipe a small-size pasta figures is used, but I think you can use any size of pasta: here I've used farfalle.

Happy cooking and as much as I hate say (write) this: happy autumn! (But I actually love this early autumn: you can start cooking these warming pasta dishes, pumpkin foods etc. The autumn colours, the smell of the crisp air, autumn clothes,..)

Pasta e ceci - Pasta Stew with Chickpeas
Author: Tuulia / Kitchenfoxtales     Preparation Time: 10 min     Cooking time: 60 min
Servings: 3-4     Calories per serving*: 319 kcal

The best pasta dish ever! Almost all ingredients can be stored for ages and you might already have them!

Ingredients:

• 2 onions
• 1 stalk of celery
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 Tbsp (olive) oil
• 1 tsp chopped rosemary leaves or 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
• 2 cans of chickpeas, drained (drained weight about 450 g in total)
• 500 ml chicken or beef stock
• 100 g small pasta (ditalini, stelline etc) or then just macaroni or any pasta basically
• salt
• (black pepper)
• fresh parsley
For finishing:
• extra-virgin olive oil

Instructions:

1. Dice the onion finely. Slice the celery thinly. Grate the garlic.
2. Saute the onion, celery, garlic and rosemary in oil gently in a pot or a deep saucepan. Put the lid on and leave to cook on mild heat for 15-20 minutes. Don't let them get any colour.
3. Add the chickpeas and stock. Cook for half an hour and remove about half of the chickpeas while you purée the soup. Add the chickpeas back into the puréed soup. Add the pasta too and simmer until the pasta is cooked. The pasta tends to sink and burn to the bottom, so stir it at intervels.
4. If needed, season with salt (and pepper). If the soup is thicker than you want it to be, add some boiling water. Sprinkle with fresh parsley.
5. Serve the dish with some extra-virgin olive oil on the table so that everyone can pour some on top of their dish.

Adapted from Jamie Oliver: Jamie's Italy.
*Nutritional information is based on average values and is a rough estimate.

Pasta e ceci - Pastaa ja kikherneitä
Tekijä: Tuulia / Kitchenfoxtales     Valmisteluaika: 10 min     Kypsennysaika: 60 min
Annokset: 3-4    Energiasisältö per annos*: 319 kcal

Ehkä maailman paras pastaruoka! Lähes kaikilla aineksilla on pitkä säilyvyysaika ja ne saattavat jo löytyä ruokakaapistasi.

Ainekset:

• 1 pieni sipuli
• 1 sellerinvarsi
• 1 valkosipulinkynsi
• 1 rkl (oliivi)öljyä
• rosmariinin oksa (tai hyppysellinen kuivattua rosmariinia)
• 2 tlk kikherneitä, valutettuna (valutettuna noin 450 g)
• 5 dl kana- tai lihalientä
• 100 g pientä keittopastaa (esim. ditalini tai stelline) tai sitten vaan makaroneja (nekin toimii ihan hyvin)
• suolaa
• (mustapippuria)
• tuoretta persiljaa
Tarjoiluun:
• kylmäpuristettua oliiviöljyä

Valmistusohjeet:

1. Kuutioi sipuli hienoksi. Viipaloi selleri ohuesti. Raasta tai hienonna valkosipuli. Jos käytät tuoretta rosmariinia, irrota rosmariinin lehdet varresta ja hienonna (itse olen yleensä käyttänyt kuivattua, jolloin tätä ei tarvitse tehdä).
2. Kuullota sipulia, selleriä, valkosipulia ja rosmariinia öljyssä kattilassa tai syvässä kasarissa. Laita kansi päälle ja jatka kypsentämistä miedolla lämmöllä 15 minuuttia. Älä anna kasvisten ruskistua, niiden tulee vain pehmetä.
3. Lisää kiknerneet ja kana-/lihaliemi. Keitä noin puoli tuntia.
4. Poista puolet kiknerneistä hetkeksi sivuun. Aja keitto tasaiseksi esim. sauvasekoittimella.
5. Palauta kikherneet takaisin keittoon, lisää pasta ja hauduta, kunnes pasta on kypsää.
6. Mausta suolalla (ja pippurilla). Jos keitto on liian paksua (tämähän riippuu ihan siitä, kuinka paksua haluat sen olevan), lisää hieman kiehuvaa vettä, kunnes koostumus on mielestäsi sopiva. Huomioi, että keitto paksunee edelleen jäähtyessään.
7. Ripottele päälle tuoretta persiljaa ja laita pöytään tarjolle kylmäpuristettua oliiviöljyä, jota voi sitten kaataa ruoan päälle halutessaan.

Lähde: Jamie Oliver: Jamie's Italy.
*Energiasisältö perustuu keskimääräisiin arvoihin ja on karkea arvio.

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