Pasta e Ceci

Serves 4
Prep Time 10 mins
Cooking Time 35 mins
Ingredients

• 1 Small onion
• 1 large celery stick
• 1 Large clove of garlic
• 2 X 400g Tins chick peas, drained and rinsed
• 1 X 400g Tin chopped tomatoes
• 500ml Ham or chicken stock
• Small sprig of rosemary
• Handful of basil, chopped
• Handful of flat leaf parsley, chopped
• 100g pasta (see Cook’s tips)
• Rock salt and ground black pepper

Method

• You can either finely chop the onion, celery and garlic or blitz them in a food processor
• Heat a little extra virgin olive oil in a heavy casserole dish
• Add the onion, celery and garlic
• Season with rock salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Gently cook for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently
• Add the chopped tomatoes and sprig of rosemary
• Pour in 500ml of ham or chicken stock
• Bring to the boil and add the chick peas
• Simmer for 30 minutes with the lid on, stirring occasionally
• Strain the soup, reserving half the chick peas and tomatoes in the sieve
• Pour the remaining chick peas and tomatoes back into the soup and bring to the boil
• Blitz the soup with a hand held stick blender or use a food processor
• The soup now becomes a creamy mixture
• Add the other half of the chick peas and tomatoes along with the pasta (see Cook’s tips)
• Bring back to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes until the pasta is al dente
• At this point you can add more boiling water if necessary (your choice)
• Stir in a handful of chopped basil and flat leaf parsley
• Remove the sprig of rosemary
• Season to taste
• Serve with warm crusty bread

Cook's tips

• Any kind of pasta can be used, but the smaller the better

Equipment

• Large flame proof casserole dish
• Hand held stick blender or food processor

Shopping List

• 1 Small onion
• 1 large celery stick
• 1 Large clove of garlic
• 2 X 400g Tins chick peas
• 1 X 400g Tin chopped tomatoes
• Small sprig of rosemary
• Handful of basil
• Handful of flat leaf parsley
• 100g pasta
• Rock salt and ground black pepper