Scribe, ut possis cum voles dicere: dices cum velle debebis (Pl. Ep. 6.29)

Saturday, July 16, 2005

Pasta With Chickpeas (Hummus) and Stuff

This is one of my 2 or 3 favourite pasta recipes. The good thing about this particular one is that even a generous plate of it doesn't make you feel too full.

Feel free to improvise with the ingredients and the quantities!

500 gr. pasta (conchiglie are recommended)

The thing which is special for this pasta, The Hummus:

  • 300 gr. of fresh chickpeas or 1 can of prepared chickpeas

The things which almost all pasta recipes have:

  • Oil (soybean, canola, sunflower - they're all the same to me. But don't waste olive oil on frying, no matter what some recipes say.)
  • 1 purple onion, chopped into medium sized pieces
  • Parmiggiano cheese, grated

The Stuff:

  • 1 red pepper, chopped into sticks
  • 3 tomatoes and/or 200 gr. of dried tomatoes
  • 100 gr. olives
  • 4 garlic cloves, chopped
  • Optional: eggplant, diced
  • Tabasco - a few drops
  • Salt
  • Ground pepper
  • White wine - 1/2 glass
  • Oregano
  • Lemon juice, 1 tsp.
  • The green stuff: dill, parsley, coriander ("kusbara") - 2 tsp. each (or more - they are healthy and they smell great)

If the chickpeas are fresh - leave them in cold water for 24 hours, then peel them. Yes, one by one. Then boil them on medium heat for an hour and drain. The peeling can take about an hour of your time; it's good therapy, but if you don't have the patience, use canned chickpeas, which you can simply drain and wash with running water.

Fry the onion with oil on medium heat. After about 7 minutes start adding the Stuff in order of appearance into the pan, with 2 min. pause between each and mixing all the time. Add the chickpeas somewhere in the middle and make the green stuff last.

After adding all the Stuff, taste and add some more salt and pepper if needed, leave the pan on less-than-medium heat and start boiling the pasta in a lot of water with 3 tsp. of salt. Don't add oil to the pot, it's a silly urban legend.

When the pasta is ready, don't wash it with cold water, it's another silly urban legend. After draining just mix it well with the chickpeas and Stuff. Serve with grated parmigiano and white wine (Sauvignon Blanc is good, but whatever tickles your fancy is fine).

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