In yet another iteration of Meatless Mondays (I know, it’s Wednesday, but I don’t always have time to cook on Mondays), I chose this recipe from the latest issue of Bon Appetit, whose cover story was all about pasta, one of my favorite foods. Here, a classic Italian sofrito simmers together with chickpeas, some of which are pureed and added to the sauce to thicken it. The ditalini–little tubes of pasta that remind me of the pasta shapes in the old Campbell’s Chunky Minestrone (another of my old favorites)–are added to the sauce, to make the dish like a thick version of pasta e fagioli. Finally, the dish is topped with a garlic rosemary oil that adds some much-needed flavor and gives the dish a silky smooth finish. It comes together in about an hour, and is a protein-packed dish that’s low-fat and high-flavor.
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion, quartered
- 1 medium carrot, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 celery stalk, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 6 garlic cloves, 4 whole, 2 chopped
- 1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/2 cup olive oil, divided
- Kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 15-ounce cans chickpeas, rinsed
- 1 pound ditalini or elbow macaroni
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
Method
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Pulse onion, carrot, celery, whole garlic cloves, parsley, and red pepper flakes in a food processor until finely chopped; transfer to a small bowl and set aside. Wipe out food processor bowl and set aside
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Heat 1/4 cup oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat; add reserved vegetable mixture, season with salt, and cook, stirring often, until golden, 8-10 minutes. Stir tomato paste and 1 cup water in a small bowl to combine; add to pot. Cook, scraping up any browned bits from bottom of pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until liquid has almost evaporated, 5-8 minutes
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Add chickpeas and 2 cups water to pot and simmer for 15 minutes to let flavors meld. Transfer 1 cup chickpea mixture to food processor; purée until smooth, then stir back into sauce to thicken
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Meanwhile, cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until al dente. Drain pasta, reserving 1 1/2 cups pasta cooking liquid
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Add pasta and 1/2 cup pasta cooking liquid to sauce and stir to coat. Increase heat to medium and continue stirring, adding more pasta cooking liquid as needed, until sauce coats pasta
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Heat remaining 1/4 cup oil in a small saucepan over medium-low heat; add chopped garlic and rosemary and cook until sizzling stops, about 1 minute. Divide pasta among bowls and drizzle with garlic-rosemary oil