Adventures in Food: Pasta e Ceci

I have to admit I slack a lot when it comes to being adventurous in my cooking. Fact is, most of the time I'm tired and, yes, a little bit lazy and I tend to fall back on old favorites that I know taste great and are fast to prepare. Every once in a while, though, I get inspired and decide to cook a dish I've been meaning to attempt for awhile. Yesterday was one of those days and it was a success, if I do say so myself! Not only that, but it seems I've found a new fast, easy dish to incorporate into my rotation.

So what is this dish, you ask? (Well, even if you're not asking I'm going to tell you anyway!) It's pasta e ceci or pasta with chickpeas, which is kind of a pasta-soup hybrid and is my fave pasta-and-bean dish. One of my challenges when trying out dishes is not being able to make them taste like my mother or nonnas do, but this one I actually nailed. Here's how:

Pasta e Ceci

Ingredients

1 package of pasta (usually short, I used ditali)

olive oil

onions

1 can chickpeas

1 cup crushed tomatoes

3/4 of a Knorr chicken boullion cube (a dado in Italian)

Directions

1. Fry the chopped onion in oil for about 2 minutes on medium heat then add the chickpeas, tomatoes and the boullion cube. Cook for around thirty minutes, stirring occasionally. Chickpeas should be tender, but still slightly firm. If you see the mixture is getting too dry just add some hot water--your end product should be much more liquidy than regular sauce, although I do prefer it on the dryer side myself.

2. When your tomatoes and ceci have been cooking for about twenty minutes bring a pot of water (add oil and salt) to a boil and throw in the pasta. Cook according to package directions or until al dente (like the chickpeas the pasta shouldn't be mushy).

3. Strain pasta and throw in the tomato and chickpea mix. Top with cheese or hot pepper if you like (I don't) and voilà: dinner! Makes enough for four--or two if you eat like my husband does.

Image via