Pasta With Chickpea Sauce

"This sauce is so rich and satisfying that you forget that it is vegetarian and quite healthy. I use homemade pappardelle, but any wide noodle or even lasagna noodles or any pasta of your choice will work just fine. With a salad and bread and wine and cheese, it's a lovely meal. Feel free to add more garlic and more chili pepper if you like."
 
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photo by Nasseh photo by Nasseh
photo by Nasseh
photo by kiwidutch photo by kiwidutch
photo by kiwidutch photo by kiwidutch
Ready In:
45mins
Ingredients:
11
Serves:
4
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ingredients

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directions

  • Place all but 1/4 cup of the chickpeas in a food processor or blender, add one cup of water and process until smooth.
  • Heat the olive oil with the chili pepper and the garlic in a one quart saucepan.
  • Add the onion, parsley, basil and bay leaf; cook, stirring, about five minutes over medium heat.
  • Add the whole chickpeas, tomatoes, salt and pepper; bring to a boil and simmer over low heat, covered, for thirty minutes, stirring at least every ten minutes.
  • Add water if liquid reduces too much.
  • Discard the bay leaf.
  • When ready to serve, transfer the hot chickpea sauce to a heated bowl large enough to comfortably hold all the pasta.
  • Dilute the sauce with 1/4 cup of pasta cooking water and fold in pasta.
  • Serve and pass parmigiana and the grater.

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Reviews

  1. This is good. I made ours gluten free serving with rice macaroni. The instructions have an issue though as no where does it say when to add the blended chickpeas. I just added them along with the whole ones which is probably what is supposed to be done. I used unrefined extra virgin olive oil, no dried chili but I served it with Red Tabasco sauce for those who wished for some heat, I used double the amount of garlic, dried basil as that is what I had on hand, chopped canned plum tomatoes, sea salt, plus the rest of the ingredients. I served it without cheese for a vegan/dairy free meal! Made for Veggie Swap 33 ~ April 2011.
     
  2. This tasted so bland as I was preparing it and had the first few bites. But, inexplicably, it got better and better. My SO and I are both sold and will definitely make it again. I served it as a sauce over angel hair, because that was all I had handy. We substituted 1/2 tsp cayenne for the dried chili and 3/4 tsp dried basil for the fresh basil and stupidly forgot the parmesan (maybe why it seemed bland at first?). I used the 1/2 cup of olive oil, and it didn't seem overly oily, but I still can't believe it needs that much. Next time I'll probably try it with 2 Tablespoons oil and the rest in water and see how that works out.
     
  3. Very yummy. Like the previous reviewer, I added the pureed chickpeas with the tomatoes and whole chickpeas. I made almost to the recipe except I only had dry basil. Also, I used this with about 1/2 lb of pasta because it seemed like it would be too dilute otherwise. Would make a good soup too.
     
  4. Very tasty and distinctly different from other pasta sauces I've eaten. I omitted the dried chilli (zero tolerance of anything hot and spicy), increased the garlic (love garlic) and added some lemon zest and two teaspoons of lemon juice. Loved the blend of flavours. Particularly loved the basil. Thank you for sharing this recipe. Made for Gimme 5.
     
  5. This is a fabulous recipe. . . I added more garlic and two dried chili peppers. . . my version, therefore, was a bit spicy, but delicious. It was a very big hit for my Texas family.
     
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Tweaks

  1. This tasted so bland as I was preparing it and had the first few bites. But, inexplicably, it got better and better. My SO and I are both sold and will definitely make it again. I served it as a sauce over angel hair, because that was all I had handy. We substituted 1/2 tsp cayenne for the dried chili and 3/4 tsp dried basil for the fresh basil and stupidly forgot the parmesan (maybe why it seemed bland at first?). I used the 1/2 cup of olive oil, and it didn't seem overly oily, but I still can't believe it needs that much. Next time I'll probably try it with 2 Tablespoons oil and the rest in water and see how that works out.
     
  2. I made this for DH's lunch. After tasting the sauce he decided that he would prefer to eat it with bread instead of pasta. I did notice the same thing as kiwidutch while making this recipe. The directions does not mention when to put in the chickpea puree but I decided to go ahead & add it with the tomatoes, then simmer for 30 minutes. It smelled wonderful while cooking. DH said it was spicy & tasty.
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

<p>I have always loved to cook. When I was little, I cooked with my Grandmother who had endless patience and extraordinary skill as a baker. And I cooked with my Mother, who had a set repertoire, but taught me many basics. Then I spent a summer with a French cousin who opened up a whole new world of cooking. And I grew up in New York City, which meant that I was surrounded by all varieties of wonderful food, from great bagels and white fish to all the wonders of Chinatown and Little Italy, from German to Spanish to Mexican to Puerto Rican to Cuban, not to mention Cuban-Chinese. And my parents loved good food, so I grew up eating things like roasted peppers, anchovies, cheeses, charcuterie, as well as burgers and the like. In my own cooking I try to use organics as much as possible; I never use canned soup or cake mix and, other than a cheese steak if I'm in Philly or pizza by the slice in New York, I don't eat fast food. So, while I think I eat and cook just about everything, I do have friends who think I'm picky--just because the only thing I've ever had from McDonald's is a diet Coke (and maybe a frie or two). I have collected literally hundreds of recipes, clipped from the Times or magazines, copied down from friends, cajoled out of restaurant chefs. Little by little, I am pulling out the ones I've made and loved and posting them here. Maybe someday, every drawer in my apartment won't crammed with recipes. (Of course, I'll always have those shelves crammed with cookbooks.) I'm still amazed and delighted by the friendliness and the incredible knowledge of the people here. 'Zaar has been a wonderful discovery for me.</p>
 
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