Recipe: Tagliatelle with Chickpeas

the appetizer:

Thirty Minute Pasta: 100 Quick and Easy Recipes by Giuliano Hazan, includes Italian pasta recipes like Tagliatelle with Chickpeas Tagliatelle coi Ceci; Farfalle with Peas and Lettuce Farfalle ai Piselli e Lattuga; and Penne with Asparagus and Prosciutto Penne agli Asparagi e Prosciutto.

Cookbook

Tagliatelle with Chickpeas

Tagliatelle coi Ceci

Serves 4

One of the restaurants we enjoy going to when we are in Valpolicella, the wine country outside of Verona, is Alia Rosa Aida, in the tiny hilltop town of San Giorgio. One of their specialties is a pasta dish they call "Tagliatelle Embogone" in the local dialect. It is homemade egg noodles with a sauce of fresh cranberry beans. When I was growing up, my mother made a soup with chickpeas, tomatoes, and rosemary that I loved. I've adapted it here, taking inspiration from Alia Rosa Aida's dish, into a pasta sauce that is now one of our favorites at home.

1/2 medium yellow onion
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil,
plus a little extra for drizzling at the end
1 medium clove garlic
1-2 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 pound fresh tomatoes Salt
1-1/2 cups canned chickpeas, drained
Freshly ground black pepper
10 ounces dried egg tagliatelle

1. Fill a pot for the pasta with about 6 quarts of water, place over high heat, and bring to a boil.

2. Peel the onion and finely chop it. Put it and the olive oil in a 12-inch skillet and place over medium-high heat. Sauté until the onion turns a rich golden color, about 5 minutes.

3. While the onion is sautéing, peel the garlic and finely chop it. Finely chop enough rosemary to measure 1 teaspoon. Peel the tomatoes and coarsely chop them.

4. When the onion is ready, add the garlic and rosemary. Sauté for 10 to 15 seconds, then add the tomatoes. Season lightly with salt and cook until most of the liquid the tomatoes release has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Add the chickpeas, season with pepper and again lightly with salt, and cook for 5 more minutes. Scoop out about half the chickpeas and puree them. A food mill will produce a smoother texture, but if you don't have one you can use a food processor. Mix the pureed chickpeas into the sauce and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes.

5. Once the pureed chickpeas are back in the pan, add about 2 tablespoon salt to the boiling pasta water, add the tagliatelle, and stir until all the strands are submerged. Cook until al dente.

6. After the pasta has cooked about 2 minutes, mix 2 tablespoons of the pasta water into the sauce. When the pasta is done, drain well and to with the sauce. Drizzle a little olive oil and grind some black pepper over each portion and serve at once.

from:
Thirty Minute Pasta:
100 Quick and Easy Recipes
by Giuliano Hazan
Photographs by Joseph De Leo
Stewart, Tabori & Chang 2009
$27.50 US; $32.95 CAN; 100 recipes; 176 pages; 40 color photographs
ISBN-10: 1584798076
ISBN-13: 978-58479-807-1
Recipe reprinted by permission.

Buy Thirty Minute Pasta: 100 Quick and Easy Recipes

Thirty Minute Pasta: 100 Quick and Easy Recipes

Recipes
- Tagliatelle with Chickpeas
  Tagliatelle coi Ceci
- Farfalle with Peas and Lettuce
  Farfalle ai Piselli e Lattuga
- Penne with Asparagus and Prosciutto
  Penne agli Asparagi e Prosciutto