Today I show you how I prepare light pasta and chickpeas Neapolitan style. And to think that as a child I didn’t like legumes, chickpeas least of all, while now I eat chickpeas, beans, and lentils of all varieties with great pleasure. Of course, this is another one of my simple recipes, like those my mom used to make to replace meat, which was expensive back then. In fact, it’s also a balanced vegan dish.
This pasta and chickpeas is not only light but also embraced or clingy as we say in Naples, not soupy. This is because the pasta and sauce are cooked together: the pasta is cooked like risotto, as I often hear, so it blends with the sauce and the flavor is amplified. I adore it!
Everyone in my household likes it, fortunately, my son who is a bit picky has always loved legumes, and the Dutchman has gotten used to eating them with pasta. Sure, it’s light pasta and chickpeas, but I assure you it doesn’t feel like it: it is very filling. Let’s prepare it…
If you love chickpeas, here are some other recipes:
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Very Inexpensive
- Preparation time: 5 Minutes
- Portions: 2 People
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Healthy
- Seasonality: All Seasons
Ingredients
- 4.2 oz pasta
- 11.6 oz cooked chickpeas (or 2.8 oz of dry chickpeas)
- 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil (1 measuring teaspoon)
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tbsp tomato paste (1 measuring tablespoon)
- to taste parsley
- to taste salt and pepper
- Total points = 22 WW points
- Points per serving = 10 WW points
Tools
- Hand Blender
Preparation
First, weigh and prepare all the ingredients. If you want to use dry chickpeas, you’ll need to soak them the night before and boil them in the morning, then take the indicated weight. Also, if you cook them yourself, save the cooking water: it will be needed later.
Tip: canned chickpeas tend to be a bit hard and there’s no way to soften them even by boiling them for hours (I’ve tried). So, when I use canned chickpeas, to make the dish nice and creamy, I blend part of the chickpeas. I recommend doing the same.
Lightly sauté the halved garlic in the oil in a large pot, add the chickpeas, including the blended ones, a bit of salt, and the tomato paste. Pour some water and let it simmer for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, break the pasta if, like me, you’re using mafaldine. Remove the garlic otherwise it will mix with the pasta and it’s not pleasant to eat (I always get it as the last bite, how frustrating!) and pour the pasta into the sauce. Gradually add boiling water or the cooking water from the chickpeas if you used dry chickpeas, just like with risotto. Using a lid will speed up the cooking.
Continue to add a little water when it dries up, stir, cover, and repeat until the pasta is cooked al dente. Turn off, cover, and let rest for 5 minutes before serving. Adjust the salt if necessary.
And here is our light pasta and chickpeas Neapolitan style, more embraced than ever, ready to go to the table: a little chopped parsley, a sprinkle of pepper if you like, and off you go.
I can’t describe its goodness, only that at my house I have to cook for 6, I take my portion and the two boys devour the rest.
I hope you’ll try it, I’m looking forward to your comments below or on Facebook.
Enjoy your meal!
by Giovanna Buono
