Chickpea & Rosemary Pasta

📝 Ingredients

• 250 g small pasta (elbow macaroni, ditalini)
• 2 tins chickpeas (530 g drained)
• 1 brown onion (about 100 g) + 1 carrot (about 100 g)
• 3 garlic cloves
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 vegetable stock cube + 1.2 l hot water
• 60 g grated Parmesan
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Large heavy-based saucepan with lid
• Potato masher
• Chef's knife
• Chopping board
• Wooden spoon

📖 Steps

1. Peel and finely chop the onion, carrot and garlic. Rinse and drain the chickpeas. Strip the rosemary and chop the needles very finely (left whole, they're tough to bite into). Dissolve the stock cube in the hot water.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat. Fry the onion and carrot for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring, until soft and lightly golden.
3. Add the garlic and rosemary and cook for 1 minute, stirring, without letting the garlic colour. Stir in the tomato purée and fry for 1 more minute: it will darken slightly and lose its acidic taste.
4. Add the chickpeas and stock, bring to the boil, then cover and simmer for 10 minutes over a low heat so the chickpeas soak up all the flavours.
5. Scoop out about a third of the chickpeas with a little stock, mash them with a potato masher or blend them, then return them to the pan. This is what makes the dish creamy without a drop of cream.
6. Bring back to the boil, add the pasta and cook it directly in the stock for the time given on the packet (about 10 minutes), stirring often so it doesn't stick to the bottom.
7. If the mixture gets too thick before the pasta is cooked, add a little hot water: the result should be somewhere between a thick soup and a saucy pasta dish. Taste, add salt if needed and season with pepper.
8. Off the heat, stir in half the Parmesan and leave to stand for 2 minutes. Serve in shallow bowls, sprinkled with the rest of the Parmesan and a grind of pepper.