Chickpea Pasta

I guess I've looked at enough recipes that you just know what will taste good and what won't. I also think of recipes as mere suggestions and if I don't want to do a step, then I won't!! So I started with this recipe from Bon Appetit. It looked and sounded wonderful. I also have to confess that I usually only read half of recipes before I decide to make them...well then I find out things halfway through, like the rosemary I bought was for a rosemary-garlic oil. (well if I actually read the title of the recipe, maybe I could have figured that out, oh well) It just so happens that I have garlic oil, so I popped a spring of rosemary in the pot while it was boiling down...I thought it was a perfect way to handle things.

Essence of Rosemary

The other variation I made is this:

Italian bacon AKA Pancetta

I added about a half pound of pancetta that I've had in the freezer. I assume this pasta was to be a vegetarian meal but who can resist pork? Especially when it is cured? I cut it up into pieces that were about the same size as the chickpeas and rendered it first, then added it back to the pot when I added the garbanzo beans. Here's the final product, it was ridiculously creamy thanks to blended chickpeas and no cream or cheese!

Nom Nom Nom

Ditalini with Chickpeas and Pancetta (adapted from Bon Appetit)

• 1/2 lb pancetta, chopped
• 1 medium onion, quartered
• 1 medium carrot, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 celery stalk, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 6 garlic cloves
• 1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves
• Kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 15-ounce cans chickpeas, rinsed
• 1 pound ditalini or elbow macaroni
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary
• garlic olive oil 

•  
  Pulse onion, carrot, celery, whole garlic cloves, parsley in a food processor until finely chopped; transfer to a small bowl and set aside. Wipe out food processor bowl and set aside.
  Render pancetta over medium heat, until crispy. Remove from pan to a paper towel lined plate. Pour off all but 1T drippings.
• Add reserved vegetable mixture to pancetta drippings, season with salt, and cook, stirring often, until golden, 8-10 minutes. Stir tomato paste and 1 cup water in a small bowl to combine; add to pot. Cook, scraping up any browned bits from bottom of pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until liquid has almost evaporated, 5-8 minutes.
• Add pancetta, chickpeas, rosemary and 2 cups water to pot and simmer for 15 minutes to let flavors meld. Transfer 1 cup chickpea mixture to food processor; purée until smooth, then stir back into sauce to thicken.
• Meanwhile, cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until al dente. Drain pasta, reserving 1 1/2 cups pasta cooking liquid.
• Add pasta and 1/2 cup pasta cooking liquid to sauce and stir to coat. Increase heat to medium and continue stirring, adding more pasta cooking liquid as needed, until sauce coats pasta.
• Serve with drizzle of garlic oil