Chickpeas are a delightful addition to pasta, and when paired with this mildly spicy red sauce, you’ll have a full-flavored pasta dish that can be on the table in no time at all.
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
- 4 medium garlic cloves, lightly crushed
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- Kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 3 cups cooked dry chick peas or two (15-ounce) cans low-sodium chickpeas, drained and rinsed, divided (see note)
- 4 cups chickpea cooking liquid, homemade chicken or vegetable, or store-bought low-sodium chicken stock, divided (see note)
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 8 oz small tubular pasta, such as ditalini
- 2 oz finely grated Pecorino Romano cheese, plus extra for serving
In a large Dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat until shimmering. Add garlic and rosemary, season lightly with salt, and cook, stirring frequently, until garlic softens and turns golden, about 5 minutes. Add pepper flakes and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add tomato paste and cook until tomato paste is fragrant and turns dark brick red, about 1 minute.
Stir in wine, scraping up any browned bits with a wooden spoon. Bring to a simmer, and cook until wine has emulsified with olive oil and mixture is slightly reduced, about 2 minutes.
If using cooked dry chickpeas: Stir in 1 cup chickpeas and 1 cup chickpea cooking liquid. Using a potato masher or wooden spoon, mash chickpeas against the sides and bottom of the pot until completely broken down. Stir in the rest of the chickpeas and remaining 3 cups cooking liquid (supplementing with stock or water as needed to reach 3 cups), and black pepper. Season with salt to taste.
If using canned chickpeas: Remove Dutch oven from heat; remove and discard rosemary sprig. Add 1 cup (170g) chickpeas and 1 cup stock, and using an immersion blender, blend mixture until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. (If you do not have a handheld immersion blender, transfer mixture to blender and blend until smooth, about 1 minute. Pour mixture back into Dutch oven.) Stir in remaining 2 cups of chickpeas, 3 cups stock, and black pepper. Season with salt to taste.
Bring chickpea mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir in pasta and cook, stirring frequently, until pasta is just shy of al dente (1 to 2 minutes less than the package directs, as the pasta will continue to cook off-heat), and liquid is reduced to a consistency that falls between soupy and saucy. Adjust consistency as needed with additional water, stock, or chickpea cooking liquid, keeping in mind that liquid will tighten up as it cools due to starch from the chickpeas.
Remove from heat, add cheese, and stir rapidly to incorporate. Season with salt to taste. Divide between individual serving bowls (for the dried chickpea version, look out for the garlic cloves and rosemary sprig; remove and discard them), and drizzle each serving with olive oil. Serve, passing extra grated cheese at the table.
