Tuscany: pasta with chickpeas puree. Enjoy this hallmark of rustic italian cooking

Pasta and chickpeas puree is a typical dish from Lucca, belonging to poor and farming cooking, such as the onion soup.
When I was little I did not love this dish, it seemed tasteless, devoid of personality and especially monotonous, like many soups.
Then one day a friend of my father, chef and owner of a famous restaurant in Maremma, made me taste this dish and finally, for the first time I appreciated it. It seemed immediately flavorful, so that I finished the whole plate, under my father’s surprised eyes.
The trick there was! His name: anchovy fillets

When you discover how magical is this combination … you stay on.
Here in Tuscany the kind of pasta to use with chickpeas puree are the “Tagliolini“, but actually there’s so much variety suitable for this dish: capelli d’angelo (I like them most of all), ditalini, gramigna…
Since chickpeas are the protagonist, one can say that this dish has not season, and enjoy tasting it even in Summer, with that aroma of rosemary reminiscent of pine forest and fills you nostrils.
When I got it, though, I immediately think of our small house on the mountains and of the winter in general, aspects that represent for me the search for new recipes for our private dinners, and new dishes to be included in our cookery courses.

It’s on the mountains, thanks to grandma Adriana, where I learned to make tortellini from Emilia and is always on mountains where I experience the most diverse dishes, with my family that acts as a “guinea pig”, immersed in an extended time, in a warm and welcoming environment, in a region (Emilia Romagna) famous for happy people and good food.
And so, every time we go to the mountains, while the fireplace is lit, the fire crackling, and outside there’s the snow… on the table waiting for us you can often see some steaming “terracotta” bowls: it’s our homemade pasta with chickpeas puree.

Ginny is eating “pasta e ceci”

My tips:

can not miss: rosemary sprig
choose a pasta with a cooking time no longer than 4 minutes, otherwise you risk compromising the right texture of the puree.
If using dried chickpeas: soak them in cold water with a teaspoon of baking soda for a whole night. Throw away the soaking water and boil them in salted water for about 40 minutes (20 minutes with the pressure cooker). Use their liquid to prepare the chickpeas puree
If using canned chickpeas, throw away the liquid in which they are immersed and use only the vegetable broth
if you do not like very much the flavor of the garlic, remove it before using the immersion blender
garlic should never burnish, in any recipe

PASTA WITH CHICKPEAS PUREE TUSCAN STYLE

Recipe by Erika Elia (www.cuocheinvacanza.it)

Prep time: 10 minutes (excluding time to boil chickpeas)
Cook time: 15 minutes (with 3 minutes pasta cooking time)
Total time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

3 cups boiled and drained chickpeas (liquid reserved)
1/2 cup extra virgin oil
2 garlic cloves
5 anchovy fillets
to taste salt
to taste black pepper
1 rosemary sprig
2 cups veggie broth
1 tbsp tomato paste
4 tbsp parmesan cheese (optional)

Cooking Directions

Over medium heat, pour 4 tbsp extra virgin oil in a pot with the garlic cloves cut in half; add the rosemary sprig and the anchovy fillets. Wait until anchovy melt, stirring well with a wooden spoon.
Add drained chickpeas continuing stirring until they take all the flavors of the sauce with anchovy, rosemary and garlic
add their liquid and 1 cup hot veggie broth and let them simmer for about 10 minutes
remove the rosemary sprig and blend the chickpeas directly in the pot with an immersion blender (or transfer them to processor)
taste and add salt if needed
add tomato paste and stir to mix and to have a nice hot color light orange
bring to boil and add other broth if the cream is too thick; you need to have the texture of yogurt if you add “capelli d’angelo” pasta (3 minutes cooking) and that one of a soup if you use a pasta which requires a longer cooking.
Pour the pasta in the soup
as it boils again (crumble capelli d’angelo by clenching them in the fist)
continue stirring medium-low heat and be careful it doesn’t stick
finally you have to obtain a soft puree, a cream
add salt if you need and turn off the heat when pasta is cooked
pour in soup bowls very hot
add a grinding of black pepper,
1 tbsp of parmesan cheese (optional)
and 1 tbsp of extra virgin oil (top down) over each bowl
bring immediately to the table