Chickpea Pasta Recipes

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the crushed red pepper, garlic, onion, 1 teaspoon salt and several grinds of black pepper and cook until the garlic is softened and the onion is translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the chickpeas and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the chickpeas are coated and heated through, about 3 minutes. Use the back of a wooden spoon to mash about a quarter of the chickpeas; this will help thicken the stew and give it body.
• Stir in the marinara sauce, pasta, lemon zest, Parmesan rind and 4 cups water. Bring to a boil and cook, stirring occasionally to make sure the pasta isn't sticking to the bottom of the pot, until the pasta is very al dente, about 10 minutes. Stir in the greens and continue to cook until completely wilted, 3 to 4 minutes. Add more salt and black pepper to taste. Divide among bowls, top with the grated Parmesan and some crushed red pepper and drizzle with olive oil.

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water with 2 teaspoons sea salt to a boil. Cook linguine at a boil until tender yet firm to the bite, about 11 minutes; drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the water.
• Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir garlic in hot oil until fragrant, about 1 minute. Increase heat to medium-high and add spinach, tomatoes, and garbanzo beans; cook and stir until spinach begins to wilt, 1 to 2 minutes more.
• Season spinach mixture with remaining teaspoon sea salt, marjoram, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Reduce heat to low. Stir drained linguine with the spinach mixture to evenly coat. Add extra olive oil or reserved pasta water to achieve your preferred level of moisture in the dish. Top with Pecorino-Romano cheese.

Steps:

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium. Add garlic and red-pepper flakes, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds (do not brown). Add chickpeas, season with salt, and cook 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and broth, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, and cook until sauce has reduced slightly, 20 minutes. Add basil, and cook 5 minutes more. Remove basil.
• While sauce is cooking, cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente; drain pasta, and return to pot.
• Add sauce to pasta, and toss. Serve with Parmesan, and garnish with torn basil.

Steps:

• In a nonstick pan over medium heat, heat the oil. Saute the garlic until soft; add the bell pepper, rosemary, and 1 tablespoon of parsley and saute 5 minutes longer.
• Add the tomatoes; bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer, stir frequently for 10 minutes. Add the chickpeas and cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through (5 minutes). Stir in the ditalini, cheese and remaining parsley.
• Top with a little more shredded cheese.

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a well-seasoned skillet or nonstick saucepan (I used a dutch oven, so I could puree the sauce right in the pan using my hand blender), and saute the onions, garlic and rosemary on low eat until the onions are soft - about 10 minutes.
• Add the tomatoes and half of the chickpeas and cook for another 10 minutes.
• Remove the rosemary springs and discard. If you have a hand blender, puree the mixture until smooth. Otherwise, use a blender. Be careful not to burn yourself.
• Return the sauce to the pan (if you'd removed it for blending), add the remaining chickpeas, and add salt and pepper to taste.
• Meanwhile, cook the pasta.
• The original recipe suggests tossing the pasta and sauce together for serving, but we served them separately.
• Pass the feta and chopped tomatoes (if desired) at the table.