Year of the Noodle: Week 47

I’m convinced that ceci beans suffer from split personality disorder.

One side is the wholesome, and entirely boring, chickpea.  This is the name of the ceci beans that show up in hummus recipes and vegetarian curries.  Chickpeas represent the sensible, nerdy personality that always does it’s homework.

Then there is the fun and quirky alter ego – the garbanzo bean.  It’s the fun named ceci beans you find rockin out on salad bar displays.  Garbanzo is the wild child who gets caught climbing out of the bedroom window to party on a school night.

Perhaps I have overthought this.  Just a tad.

Sadly, this dish is as boring as the chickpea name insinuates.  If this pasta dish had turned out amazingly (it did not), perhaps I would have upgraded the name to Pasta with Garbanzo Beans.

Instead, it goes down in history as a completely unmemorable and unreccomendable.  It’s as culinarily interesting as doing your math homework.

Even the photo is boring.

Skip this pasta and use your chickpeas for something garbanzo-worthy instead.  Go ahead – live it up.

Ingredients

1 16-ounce can chickpeas
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 tomatoes, chopped or 1 small can of chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
2 tsp red pepper flakes
½ pound penne pasta
2 tsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
feta cheese

Directions

Heat oil in a deep pot, sauté onion, and garlic until soft.  Stir in rosemary, and cook for another minute.  Stir in tomatoes, red pepper flakes and salt and cook until tomatoes are softened.  Stir in 1 cup of chickpeas (reserve the rest for later), 1 cup if water and heat through.  Remove from heat, and blend the mixture until smooth in a food processor.  Return to heat, keep warm.

While you are preparing the sauce on one side, bring a pot of water to boil and cook pasta following package instructions. Pasta should be cooked, but still firm.  Drain pasta and reserve 1 cup of cooking water.  Mix cooked pasta with the chickpea sauce, along with the reserved whole chickpeas.  The pasta should be slightly soupy, as it will absorb more water.  Add some of the reserved pasta water, until desired consistency is reached.  Serve with a garnish of crumbled cheese and fresh herbs.  Omit cheese for a vegan version.

Source: Tasty Palettes