Abruzzo Recipe: Pasta & Ceci (Chickpeas Pasta)
‘Pasta e Ceci’ (Chickpeas Pasta) is a traditional dish widely used all over Central & South Italy. It is a simple yet delicious and warm dish, especially on a rainy early spring day. Discover Nonna’s Amina recipe to make the perfect Pasta e Ceci from Abruzzo. And if you are traveling in Italy, consider booking one of our Custom Tours of the Abruzzi.
Difficulty
Easy
Preparation
10 min
Cooking
2 hours (depending on chickpeas)
Serves
4 people
Ingredients for Pasta e Ceci
300 gr of fresh pasta (Tagliolini or Sagne)
- 500 gr of dry chickpeas
- 2 Bay leaves
- 2 garlic cloves
- Some parsley
For frying, soffritto:
- Half onion
- Extra virgin olive oil
- 250 ml tomato passata
Tools
- A saucepan
- A frying pan
Preparation
Wash and leave the chickpeas to soak in water overnight.
Put the chickpeas, water, bay leaves, whole parsley, and garlic in a saucepan (3 fingers on top of the chickpeas). Nonna’s chickpeas have to be cooked for 2/3 hours until they are tender. Depending on the chickpeas, they have to be cooked until they get soft. They will release a white foam; remove this with the help of a spoon.
Make the soffritto with olive oil and chopped onion, add it to the chickpeas, and let it cook for an additional 1 hour. Do not forget to add some chilly.
In the meantime, cook the pasta, and at half cooking, add it to the chickpeas and let cook the pasta together so that the amid will give the chickpeas soup a nice consistency.
Buon Appetito!
Nonna’s Top Secrets:
- Use organic chickpeas
- Use organic fresh eggs
- Chickpeas have to boil slowly at low heat.
Don’t forget:
- Wash the chickpeas before the cooking.
Pasta Chickpeas Video
Variants of Classic Chickpeas Pasta
Chickpeas are very versatile, they can be mixed and prepared in all sort of ways. As they have a soft taste by nature, they’re excellent when added with truffles, saffron & seafood. You can see some of our preparations below.
Classic Chickpeas Pasta, Pasta & Ceci
A classic recipe, like Nonna’s, can be paired with a glass of Metodo Classico from the Faraone Winery in Abruzzo.
Chickpeas & Saffron
The king of the spices, the Saffron from Navelli! what better way to taste saffron than with chickpeas?
Chickpeas & Seafood
Seafood also goes very well with chickpeas, here below you can see our recipe with mussels & clams.
Chickpeas & Truffle
Our favourite, maybe because we are in the land of truffles, but truly this recipe is so tasty! We’ve even added some wild chestnuts and the result couldn’t be better.
