Pasta Con Ceci

Pasta Con Ceci is one of the main poor dishes of Italian traditional cuisine. Its origins come from the peasant culture made up of easy-to-find and healthy ingredients for a delicious, complete and portentous vegan recipe. This recipe is perfect for cold seasons and was the best solution to warm up and get cozy during Italian winters.  As we explained before in our introduction to Italian cuisine and culture, some recipes come from several different places and regions and can find some addiction to its main procedure and ingredients. For this specific recipe, the meat-free version is the traditional option you can find in some central and southern region such as Campania, Sicily, Puglia and Lazio. How other regions revisit this recipe?  Some regions add some meat and other some anchovies to spice things up a little bit.

Why it is so good for our health?

It is a poor first but very nutritious dish, because chickpeas – like all legumes – contain a significant amount of protein that integrates the nutrient supply of pasta, typically rich in carbohydrates

The recipe

Preparation

With fresh raw chickpeas 12 hours. With canned chickpeas it would be easier and faster but you won’t have the same nutritious properties as the raw ones! Keep this in mind while choosing your best option.

Cooking

40 minutes with raw chickpeas

20 minutes with canned chickpeas

Ingredients (4 servings)

400 gr of chickpeas

100 gr of short pasta

1.5 lt of vegetable broth

1 onion

2 cloves of garlic

1 rosemary sprig

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

salt

pepper

Preparation

Pour the chickpeas for a night.

Prepare the vegetable broth.

Add chickpeas and bring to boiling, then let boil for about an hour and a half.

Using a ladle or a loaf, take out about a third of the chickpeas and then whisk the remaining ones with a diving mixer. This procedure will make a delicious cream.

Add  the pasta to your chickpeas. Then cook for another 10-15 minutes.

Now  chop finely chopped garlic, onion and rosemary and add them to your pasta with chickpeas cooking for a few minutes more. Add salt and pepper to taste, stir and serve.

Extra tips:

You can make this recipe even healthier choosing some wholegrain pasta to add more fibers and enjoy all its benefits and the nutritional properties.

Health benefits of chickpeas

Chickpeas is a type of legume that has a whopping 18.2 grams of protein per 1/2 cup (100 grams), they’re also very much known for containing a large portion of magnesium.

Bone health

Because chickpeas have a number of concentrated minerals such as Iron, phosphorous, magnesium, copper and zinc means they are highly recommended for strong bone building.