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Chickpeas And Pasta With Artichoke Hearts

By
Teri Lyn Fisher

Growing up in an Italian Catholic family, we enjoyed a meatless Friday night supper: a comforting dish of chickpeas and elbow macaroni called ceci e pasta. A small amount of pasta cooking water is added to the braised vegetables to make the sauce, creating an almost stewlike dish.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

Ingredients

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  • 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil1 bag (12 ounces) or box (10 ounces) frozen artichoke hearts, thawed
  • 1 cup thinly sliced onion
  • 1 cup thinly sliced celery, plus 2 tablespoons chopped celery leaves
  • 1 cup thinly sliced peeled carrot
  • 2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon coarse salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 cup dried elbow pasta
  • 1 can (15 ounces) chickpeas, drained, or
  • 1 1/2 cups cooked dried chickpeas
  • 1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes with their juices
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1/4 cup chopped (1/8-inch pieces) Parmigiano-Reggiano

Directions

1. Combine the oil, artichokes, onion, celery, celery leaves, carrot, garlic, oregano, salt, and a generous grinding of black pepper in a large, deep skillet or sauté pan with a lid. Cook, stirring, over medium heat until the vegetables begin to sizzle. Reduce the heat to low and cook, covered, until the vegetables are wilted but not browned, about 15 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a saucepan filled with salted boiling water until tender, about 10 minutes. Ladle out 1 1/2 cups of the pasta cooking water and reserve. Drain the pasta.

3. Stir the cooked pasta, half (3/4 cup) of the reserved pasta cooking water, chickpeas, tomatoes, and tomato paste into the vegetables. Add the Parmigiano-Reggiano. Cook, covered, over low heat for about 10 minutes to blend the flavors. Add more of the reserved pasta cooking water if you’d prefer the mixture to be soupier. Serve ladled into bowls.

Excerpted from WHOLE WORLD VEGETARIAN, © 2016 by Marie Simmons. Reproduced by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.

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