Pasta e Ceci - ish

Pasta e ceci is a very classic, home-style Roman dish which is basically a chickpea stew with pasta. The traditional version has some fresh rosemary (which I don’t love) and some escarole (which I couldn’t find). Also, I prefer to cook the pasta separately and add it in later so it doesn’t absorb all the liquid of the stew.

So here is my version, without rosemary, water-logged pasta, and with things I could find in my grocery store!

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp of olive oil

• 1 large yellow onion; diced

• 4 cloves of garlic; minced

• 1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes

• Salt & pepper

• 1 (28 oz) can of peeled whole tomatoes

• 2 heaping tsp of Better than Bouillon chicken or roast chicken flavor

• 1 (15 oz) can of chickpeas; drained

• 1 bunch of Tuscan kale; de-stemmed and roughly chopped

• 1/2 - 1 cup of water

• 1 cup of small pasta (ditalini, elbow macaroni, etc); cooked al dente and set aside

• Grated parmesan cheese

In a large pot, or Dutch oven, heat up your olive oil on medium heat. Add in your onion and cook until soft and glossy, stirring occasionally. Add in your garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for about 1 more minute, or until fragrant. Season well with salt and pepper.

Add in your can of whole peeled tomatoes, stirring it all together and breaking up the large tomatoes with the back of your wooden spoon. Let simmer for about 5 minutes. Add in the Better than Bouillon and stir until it is completely dissolved.

Pour in the drained chickpeas and let simmer for about about 10 minutes, so that the beans are warmed up. Using the back of your wooden spoon, gently mash about half of the chickpeas in the stew against the pot. This will thicken up the stew, but make sure you leave some of them whole so you get that nice texture.

Next, add in your chopped kale and starting with 1/2 cup of water, pour the water over the kale, put the lid on the pot and let it simmer for about 15 minutes. Check to make sure the kale is a bit wilted and there is enough liquid in the pot. Continue to thin out the stew with water as needed, adjusting the salt and pepper as needed.

Right before serving, add in your cooked pasta, stir it up and bring it to a medium heat to reheat.

Serve while warm and top with some grated parm!