Hearty and filling, pasta e ceci is a traditional winter dish. It originates from the tradition of “cucina povera” cooking, literally meaning “poor cooking.”
Cucina povera dishes were created by Italian peasants who could only afford simple ingredients to cook with. These dishes were also often meant to use up ingredients that had started to go bad so as not to let any food go to waste.
Another cucina povera dish you’re probably familiar with is bruschetta. Italian peasants would take their several days-old bread, slice it up, and add fresh tomatoes and olive oil. The loaf of bread that would have been thrown away by more wealthy Italians would give the peasants’ bruschetta a lovely crunch (which these days we evoke by toasting our bread)!
Besides requiring a few staple ingredients, pasta e ceci also only requires one pot. We hope with each bite you taste the Italian history, tradition, and love poured into this dish!
1. Finely dice the onion then add it to a deep pan with three tablespoons of Classico extra virgin olive oil. Sauté the onion over a medium flame, then add the bay leaf.
2. Bring the stock to boil in a separate pot. Lower to a simmer and leave covered as you prepare the rest of the dish.
3. Pour the drained chickpeas into the pan with the onion. Turn up the flame and sauté, mixing well. Cook for 10 minutes. Then begin smashing some of the chickpeas with a fork.
4. Add the uncooked pasta to the pan with the onion and chickpeas. Mix well and begin adding ladle after ladle of hot broth. Repeat this until the pasta is al dente (roughly 15 minutes). Pour enough broth to just cover the pasta, not to drown it nor too little to cover it. Towards the end of the cooking process, the mix should be getting thicker and thicker.
5. Once the pasta is al dente, turn off the flame. Add black pepper and parmigiano, mixing thoroughly.
6. Serve hot and finish the dish with a drizzle of Classico extra virgin olive oil.
