The first time I tried this dish was at a ‘Maseria’ in Salento (Maseria is like a little farm, a family’s home where they grow their own vegetables, breed animals and then serve amazing home cooked food using everything from their land).
I remember when i first saw it dished up in front of me, I was not 100% convinced of the concept of ‘Tria’ (type of pasta) & Chickpeas together in a dry Pasta dish but the first mouthful totally changed my mind in an instance. Its has all the flavours of a minestrone but it’s just not as wet or soupy. :).
Here is my take on it. Enjoy peeps
Ingredients: 3-4 people
500g Fresh tagliatelle
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 celery stick, chopped
8 cherry Tomatoes, halved
Handful of Parsley
Half a stock cube
Handful of Kale
1 x 400g tin of chickpeas
Grated Pecorino Romano
1/2 Lemon Juice
Sprinkle of chilli flakes
Olive Oil
- In a saucepan fry a clove of garlice, onion, celery & cherry tomatoes.
- When they have softened, add the chickpeas, parsley, half a stock cube and a generous amount of water (you will cook the pasta in here, so much sure you add enough water, but not too much or you will saturate the flavours)
- When the water starts to boil, and has a good flavour (taste it at this point) add the pasta and cook as instructed on the packet.
- When the pasta is cooked, drain the liquid but preserve it as we will use some of it later.
- Take a good third of the pasta, and in a frying pan, add it to some olive oil, garlic & chilli flakes and fry the pasta until it starts to turn a golden colour.
- When the fried pasta is ready, add to the rest of the pasta and veg mixture. Add the lemon juice, a little of the water and serve with the grated Pecorino.
