Pasta With Chickpea Sauce

Total Time: 45 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 dried chili
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 onion, minced
• 1 tablespoon italian parsley, minced
• 12 basil leaves, torn
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped (or 1 and 1/2 cups of canned diced tomatoes)
• salt & freshly ground black pepper
• 1 lb pasta, cooked al dente (1/4 cup of pasta cooking water reserved)

Recipe

• 1 place all but 1/4 cup of the chickpeas in a food processor or blender, add one cup of water and process until smooth.
• 2 heat the olive oil with the chili pepper and the garlic in a one quart saucepan.
• 3 add the onion, parsley, basil and bay leaf; cook, stirring, about five minutes over medium heat.
• 4 add the whole chickpeas, tomatoes, salt and pepper; bring to a boil and simmer over low heat, covered, for thirty minutes, stirring at least every ten minutes.
• 5 add water if liquid reduces too much.
• 6 discard the bay leaf.
• 7 when ready to serve, transfer the hot chickpea sauce to a heated bowl large enough to comfortably hold all the pasta.
• 8 dilute the sauce with 1/4 cup of pasta cooking water and fold in pasta.
• 9 serve and pass parmigiana and the grater.