8/11/14

Video: Pasta with Chickpeas, Parmesan, and Parsley

A couple of non sequiturs:
1. After reading this great post from Luisa on A Cup of Jo, Matt and I had a semi-serious conversation about moving to Germany.

2. I want to say thank you for all the lovely comments I get here on the site, especially back when my grandma and dad died. I'm saying this now because I recently went back to those posts and reread some of the messages and realized that I hadn't written back to most of them individually. Point being, thank you. I always love reading what you guys have to say!

OK, that's it for now. I hope you all laughed at Teddy's ambitious army-crawling across the kitchen floor in the above video as much as I did.

Pasta with Chickpeas, Parmesan, and Parsley 
serves 4

For the chickpeas:
NOTE: This makes about 3 cups of cooked beans, which is more than enough for the pasta, so you have extra to either purée for baby food or hummus or to simply reserve to add to a salad.

1 1/3 cup dry chickpeas, soaked in water overnight
2 tablespons kosher salt
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 large carrots, peeled and halved
8-10 garlic cloves
1/2 yellow onion, halved
NOTE number two: 1 dried arbol chile and/or a halved celery stalk would be great to add to the cheesecloth bundle too

Drain the chickpeas and put them in a medium saucepan with enough water to cover them by 1 1/2 inches. Add the salt and the olive oil. Place the carrot, garlic, and onion in a double piece of cheesecloth and tie it into a closed bundle with kitchen twine. Add the bundle to the pot with the chickpeas and bring the water to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer the chickpeas until they are very tender and creamy, about 2 hours, adding more water to the pot as needed but never covering them by more than an inch to an inch and a half. (Cooking them in just enough water yields richer-tasting, creamier beans than if you were to just boil them in tons of water.) (Note: the time will vary greatly depending on how long you soaked the beans and how old the beans are; the time could be anywhere from 1 hour to as long as 4.)

Turn off the heat and allow the chickpeas to cool in the cooking liquid. Remove and discard the cheesecloth bundle. The chickpeas can be prepared to this point up to a week in advance. If you are using the chickpeas now, drain them, reserving the cooking liquid to use in the pasta. To use both later, transfer the chickpeas and the cooking liquid to an airtight container and refrigerate until you are ready to use. Bring the chickpeas to room temperature and drain them before using.

For the chickpea pasta:
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
the reserved chickpea broth from the above recipe (I ended up with about 1 1/4 cups)
6-7 cups chicken (or vegetable) broth (Between the chickpea broth and chicken broth, you want to end up using about 8 cups total, so if you're using canned chickpeas, just use 8 cups of chicken broth)
1 to 2 teaspoons crushed red pepper
kosher salt
1 pound angel hair pasta (or thin spaghetti)
approx. 2 cups cooked chickpeas from above recipe (or of course, you can substitute with canned chickpeas)
1 heaping cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped
plenty of grated Parmesan

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add the broths, the crushed red pepper, and ¾ teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil.

Add the pasta and cook, stirring, until the broth is nearly absorbed and the pasta is al dente. Turn off the heat. Stir in the chickpeas and parsley.

Divide among individual bowls and top with a few tablespoons of Parmesan.

20 comments:

  1. Great bouquet garni. Teddy just watched and is embarrassed that he could only army crawl on this -- he says if we shot the video this last weekend, he'd be pulling to a stand and helping you cook. xoxoxo

    ReplyDelete
  2. Any opinions on more "healthy" pastas? Or is Steven Colbert right: "Whole wheat pasta sucks!" :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ha! Can't say I like whole wheat pasta either but I don't mind quinoa pasta...

      Delete
  3. This looks delicious, and as soon as I stop eating tomato toast for every meal, I'm definitely going to try it. (Also, important gymnastics update: Back handsprings, now just lightly spotted! Front flips onto a mat! It's all I dreamed of and more!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hahhaaa amaaazing! (Where's the video proof though?) :)

      Delete
  4. Excellent video, as always. Teddy is a hoot!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Teddy and Mavis...true love!!!! At least for Teddy, right?

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love your videos! They're so professional but not too polished - you roll with spilling the pasta instead of editing it out. And the food always looks delicious.

    Also, I don't understand how babies are so strong! I wish I could drag myself around like that - it would mean much less time at the gym.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Yum! This reminds me of my favorite chickpea salad recipe from Bon Appetit. You can Google that. Also, I can confirm from hanging out at Julia's that everything Luisa says about German parenting is true!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is an oldie but goodie that I had long forgotten. My Italian mom used to make this dish 50 years ago, when I was a kid, and we gobbled it up. Never any leftovers. It is so good to be reminded of all the wonderful things I had as a kid but can appreciate so much more today. I haven't had this dish in 20 years but will definitely put it on the menu for the week. Great post.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Teddy is beautiful!!!!!!!! Wow.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Holy moly, Luisa made Germany sound pretty sweet! I hadn't read that series and now I can't stop learning about motherhood in other countries... Just a productive Friday afternoon over here.

    This looks delicious. And you may have inspired me to stop buying canned beans and get it together long enough to plan soaking some beans overnight. I'm thirty now, it's time?

    Teddy is getting so big and has the little arm/wrist rolls just like my nephew. Swoon!

    Finally to end this long and disjointed comment-- do you have any small grocery/ farmer's markets/ etc secrets out here in LA? It seems like my options are Trader Joes and more Trader Joes with the occasional Vallarta tortilla binge.

    Athankyou in advance. Keep up the good work! Was super excited to see a new video on my YouTube dash!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Allie! I do my fair share of Trader Joes as well but I also like to sprinkle in a few stops to Cookbook in Echo Park and the farmer's market in Echo Park on Fridays. There's also the Silver Lake Farms CSA option... we're not members but we should be! I've picked up my friend's share a few times and have always been impressed. Hope that helps!!

      Delete
  11. I love pasta, and this recipe makes me crave for a bowl! LOL...:) thank you so much for sharing..:)

    ReplyDelete
  12. teddy is getting so big and more and more adorable. that laugh! xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  13. Oh my word. Teddy just made my day.

    ReplyDelete

I love hearing from you guys! (Comment moderation turned on for posts older than 4 weeks.)