On her blog, Rachel Eats, Rachel Roddy calls pasta e ceci ‘the Steve Buscemi of soups, a bit of a legend, oh so low key if you take him for granted, but love him so much more than all the fancy pants hogging the limelight.’ Pasta e ceci is low key: pasta and chickpeas, fortified by a sweet soffritto of onion, celery and carrot, good olive oil, some Parmesan, a little rosemary. A photograph of this dish might as well sit alongside a definition of ‘comfort food’ in the dictionary – a comfort based not on indulgence (it’s far too economical for that), but on nurture. The difference, if you like, between spoiling yourself with a boozy night out and going back to the family home for a roast. In fact, this is family fare in Rome. Roddy describes the scent of simmering chickpeas all over her Testacchio neighbourhood on Fridays, when pasta e ceci is traditionally eaten as a starter before baccalà, to see in the weekend. It was bean and pasta concoctions such as pasta e ceci or its cousin pasta e fagioli (made with borlotti or cannellini beans), that sustained me through a winter of book writing. Made with store cupboard staples, these are cheap, quick and honest dishes that nurtured my solitary stomach.
How to Make It:
# In a deep saucepan warm the olive oil over a medium heat then add the diced vegetables and a pinch of salt. Sauté, stirring and turning them regularly, until they are very soft and golden, which should take about 15 minutes.
# Add the tomato purée and rosemary, stir, and then add two thirds of your cooked chickpeas. Stir again and then cover everything with 1.5 litres of water (use the cooked chickpea water if you have it). Add the Parmesan rind. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and leave to simmer gently for about 20 minutes.
# Remove the Parmesan rind and rosemary and give everything a blast in the blender to create a smooth soup.
# Stir in the rest of the cooked chickpeas and season to taste. Bring the soup back to the boil and add the pasta. Keep stirring regularly while the pasta cooks – it should take 10–15 minutes – to stop it sticking.
# Once the pasta is cooked but still firm, take the pan off the heat. Allow to sit for 5 minutes before stirring and serving with a glug of your best olive oil.
Pasta, Roman Cuisine and Unforgettable Taste of Italian Food
