If you’re looking for a main dish that also serves as a balanced one-pot meal, I suggest you try the pasta with chickpea hummus. It’s very flavorful, simple to make, and vegan: very nutritious.
I make it occasionally because we enjoy it a lot at home, and the idea of adding olives and sun-dried tomatoes was really clever; it makes this dish very tasty while remaining light. We eat it hot, but it’s also ideal for a packed lunch as it’s delicious at room temperature too. Now I’ll explain how to make it.
I’ll also leave you with some other ideas for light one-pot meals:
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 2People
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Healthy
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 5.3 oz cooked chickpeas
- 0.7 oz tahini (or almond butter)
- 1/2 lemon (organic, use juice and grated zest)
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder (or one clove of fresh garlic if you like)
- to taste salt
- 5 oz whole wheat fusilli (or another type of pasta of your choice)
- 0.7 oz black olives (weighed without pits)
- 0.7 oz sun-dried tomatoes (not the ones in oil)
- to taste cherry tomatoes (if in season, otherwise omit)
- to taste arugula
- to taste salt
- Points per serving = 12 WW points
Tools
- Lemon Zester
- Hand Blender
- Pan
Steps
The first thing to do is to soak the sun-dried tomatoes in some hot water to soften them.
Blend all the hummus ingredients with a hand blender: chickpeas, tahini, the juice and grated zest of half a lemon, garlic powder or whole garlic, and a little salt. You should get a cream, and if there are some pieces left, that’s fine too; it largely depends on the power of your blender. Taste for salt and add more if necessary.
Cut the sun-dried tomatoes into strips, the cherry tomatoes into pieces, and the olives in half, and set everything aside.
Cook the pasta and meanwhile pour the hummus into a large pan. Add the sun-dried tomatoes and olives and stir. Keep the heat low; it doesn’t need to cook, just warm up.
When the pasta is cooked, drain it and pour it into the pan. Mix well, then add the cherry tomatoes and arugula.
Give everything a good stir and adjust salt to taste.
And here our pasta with chickpea hummus is ready to be served! Isn’t it also a beautiful colorful dish to bring to the table?
It’s really delicious and also prepared in a flash. If you want, you can even make the hummus the night before so it’s really quick to put this dish together.
I prepare it often here, and the Dutchman likes it a lot too, and after all, if you like hummus, how can you not like it, right? Try it yourself and let me know if you liked it.
Enjoy your meal!
by Giovanna Buono
Storage
You can prepare this pasta in advance, especially if you take it to work. It stays good for 3 days in the fridge. On the day you want to use it, let it stay at room temperature for a couple of hours so it’s not too cold when you eat it. In the summer, you can of course serve it cold.
I haven’t tried freezing it because I don’t think it would be very tasty once thawed, but you can definitely freeze the sauce and then reheat it when you cook the pasta.
FAQ
If I want to use dried chickpeas, what should I do?
If you want to cook them yourself, soak the dried chickpeas overnight, rinse them, and then boil them in unsalted water. At the first boil, skim the surface, cover with water, and let them simmer gently. If after a couple of hours the chickpeas are still a bit hard, add a pinch of baking soda to soften them quickly and continue for another half hour. Once cooled, you can also remove the skins for easier digestion.
For this recipe, 50g (approx. 1.8 oz) of dried chickpeas should be sufficient, otherwise, make more and then take what you need and freeze the rest.What can I use instead of cherry tomatoes when they are not in season?
I’ve tried cooked beetroot cut into small pieces and it’s delicious, not to mention that chickpea hummus with beetroot is a very popular recipe. However, the whole dish will turn pink! Next time I’ll take a picture to show you.
