I’ve made this twice and loved it and totally forgotten to post it. The original is here and I don’t think I’ve made that many changes to it. A couple of notes, though: using dried chickpeas never works for me. I soaked those little bastards for about 18 hours and they were still hard when chopped up. When I made it again, I just went with canned and the texture benefited greatly. And use the fresh rosemary. It makes all the difference.
1/2 lb (250 g) dried chickpeas soaked overnight and then simmered for 2 hours until tender *or* 1 can of chickpeas, drained (I used two cans – I like lots of chickpeas)
2 T olive oil
1 medium carrot, peeled and finely diced
1 stick of celery, finely diced
1 onion, finely diced
2 T tomato paste (one small can
1 sprig rosemary
2 cloves crushed garlic
2 c vegetable or chicken stock or water the chickpeas were cooked in, with more plain water added to make up the difference, if necessary
* optional* 500ml extra water or stock for if you cook the pasta in the soup
Parmesan rind
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 lb small dried tubular pasta (ditali)
*optional* olive oil for on top
*optional* shredded Parmesan for on top
Heat the oil to medium-low in a large, heavy-bottomed pot. Add the carrot, celery and onion to the oil and sautée until soft and translucent. Stir in tomato paste, rosemary and garlic, then add chickpeas.
Cover everything with stock or water and throw in Parmesan rind. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer for about 20 minutes.
Remove the rind and rosemary and pass everything through a food mill or give it a blast with the stick blender until you achieve the desired texture. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Now, two choices:
1. add some more water or stock to the soup, bring it to the boil and cook your pasta directly in the soup
or
2. cook your pasta separately, then add it to the soup, letting things rest for about 5 minutes so the flavors mingle. Serve drizzled with oil and some freshly grated Parmesan.