We cook chickpeas and ditalini in the same pot to blend the dish, using the starch released by the pasta to create a silky, stick-to-your-ribs texture. Before adding the pasta, we simmer the chickpeas to give them a creamy softness. And we achieve depth of flavor by adding tomatoes and Parmesan cheese.–America’s Test Kitchen.

What is LC HUMP DAY PASTA?

We’re glad you asked. LC Hump Day Pasta (#LCHumpDayPasta) is a little something we cooked up to help you on the night of the week that you feel least like cooking. Wednesday was traditionally Prince Spaghetti Day (for those of you old enough to remember). We’ve revamped and updated that to Hump Day and included every type of pasta there is.

CAN I MAKE PASTA WITH CHICKPEAS AND TOMATOES VEGAN?

You definitely can. It’s already so close but if you want to go full vegan, you can replace the Parmesan cheese with nutritional yeast (or nooch, as it’s known), like our tester Victoria Filippi did. The addition of garlic powder can also be a welcome addition to your nooch, just to amp up the flavor.

A blue bowl filled with chickpeas, diced tomatoes, ditalini pasta, and parmesan, flanked with a crueset of olive oil and a bowl of Parmesan.

Pasta with Chickpeas and Tomatoes

5 from 1 vote
Our pasta with chickpeas and tomatoes is simple to prepare, yet packed full of satisfying flavor. A sprinkle of Parmesan cheese finishes the dish with a little extra umami flavor.
David Leite
CourseMains
CuisineAmerican
Servings4 to 6 servings
Calories524 kcal
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time45 minutes

Ingredients 

  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for serving
  • 1 (7 oz) onion, finely chopped
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 3/4 teaspoon dried rosemary, crumbled
  • 2 cups water, plus extra as needed
  • 2 cans (15 ounce) chickpeas, undrained
  • 1 can (14 ounce) diced tomatoes
  • 1 teaspoon table salt
  • 1 1/2 cups (8 oz) small shells or ditalini
  • 1/2 cup (1 oz) grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions 

  • In a pot over medium heat, warm oil until shimmering, 1 to 3 minutes. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and just beginning to brown, 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in garlic, pepper flakes, and rosemary and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
  • Stir in water, chickpeas and their liquid, tomatoes and their juice, and salt and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes.
  • Add pasta and cook, stirring frequently, until tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Adjust consistency with extra hot water as needed and season with salt and pepper to taste.
  • Serve, passing the Parmesan and extra oil separately.

    ☞ TESTER TIP: A little drizzle of balsamic vinegar elevates the taste to the next level.

The Ultimate Meal Prep Cookbook

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Nutrition

Serving: 1 servingCalories: 524 kcalCarbohydrates: 69 gProtein: 23 gFat: 17 gSaturated Fat: 6 gMonounsaturated Fat: 8 gCholesterol: 26 mgSodium: 1048 mgFiber: 3 gSugar: 3 g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Tried this recipe?Mention @leitesculinaria or tag #leitesculinaria!
Recipe © 2021 America’s Test Kitchen. Photo © 2021 America’s Test Kitchen. All rights reserved.

Recipe Testers’ Reviews

This pasta with chickpeas and tomatoes offers the satisfaction of a hearty pasta dish with the healthy and delicious advantage of replacing half the pasta with chickpeas which lend a lovely, creamy depth of flavor. It’s also quick, easy,A blue and white bowl filled with pasta shells, tomatoes, chickpeas, and shavings of Parmesan, beside a grater and a chunk of Parmesan. and only uses one pot (which is a huge bonus in my book!)

 

Next time I make this I will throw in a handful of chopped kalamata olives for an additional umami boost. I served this with broccoli rabe which offered the perfect counterpoint to this rich and flavorful pasta. We had a nice Pinot Grigio to go alongside this meal.

This is an enjoyable bowlful of pasta with chickpeas and tomatoes, with great texture and an earthy flavor. It reminds me a bit of pasta e ceci, but less brothy. This is so easy to make (it’s a one-pot meal). Though the flavor was good, we thought it got better with a few drops of balsamic glaze on each bowl, along with an excellently flavored olive oil and fresh parmesan.

The rosemary flavor was lovely and subtle. I dried fresh rosemary from my garden and used that, though I would like to taste this using fresh, instead of dried. I usually add a dry soup base to give broth extra flavor, as well as salt, to soups and stews. I used a vegetable base here. We had good sourdough bread and an eggplant salad and drank a Pinot Noir. I will definitely make this again.

Looking for something quick to make for dinner? Look no further than your pantry. This pasta with chickpeas and tomatoes is tasty, filling and simple. It’s a great vegetarian option, and if you sub in nutritional yeast for the Parmesan, you have a satisfying vegan dish.

The crushed red pepper gives the right amount of heat while the rosemary adds interest. We served this with salad and warm ciabatta rolls.

This pasta with chickpeas and tomatoes is a fairly quick one-pot pasta dish that results in a delicious and nutritious meal…or if you make the entire recipe for 2 people, multiple meals! As written, it would serve 4 very hungry teenage boys or 6-8 people with slightly smaller appetites.

It’s a good pantry recipe. If you happen to have dried chickpeas and felt like cooking them this would be even better. We had our pasta with a salad for a simple vegetarian dinner.

This pasta with chickpeas and tomatoes is a quick and comforting weeknight meal. It’s essentially pasta e fagioli, just not in soup form. This is one of those dishes that’s important to have in your back pocket on those days when you’re hungry and want something substantial with minimal effort. The prep work is very easy, calling for ingredients that you always have in your pantry, and the whole meal comes together in about an hour.

This pasta dish is one of those recipes that the more you make it, the more it becomes your own unique take. It’s a great base for any additions. I think adding kale or spinach, little meatballs, even maybe putting cinnamon and cumin instead of rosemary for a middle eastern take on this are all viable options.

I went rogue, and instead of olive oil, I added a tablespoon of unsalted butter at the end along with the entire half cup of parmesan it called for. I think even more parmesan would be great too. For a little more flavor, I’d also try adding a parmesan rind to the pot along with another teaspoon or so of rosemary, because I found that the rosemary wasn’t coming through enough for me.

However, as is, it’s delicious, and I’ll happily make this again. It’s especially nice served with some crusty seeded sourdough bread slathered in salted butter.

It would be easy to pass by this recipe for pasta with chickpeas and tomatoes as being too simple to be worth making. That would be a mistake. Every cook needs to have some recipes in their back pocket that you can make out of pantry ingredients on days when you feel like you don’t have the time or energy to cook. This recipe is one of those. It’s dead easy, but still delicious, and comforting. Just the ticket after a really rough day at work.

I did make one change to the recipe, which was to use fresh rosemary instead of dried. I did this simply because I have fresh rosemary growing outside my door, and I did not have any dried. A general rule when substituting fresh herbs for dried is to use three times the amount of fresh as the amount of dried called for. I followed that rule which meant I used 2 1/4 teaspoons of fresh rosemary. I would probably use a bit more in the future.

I also used ditalini for the pasta, once again because that is what I had on hand. Any small pasta shape should work great here.

This turned out to be a very quick, tasty meal that was easily put together with staple pantry items. The leftovers tasted even better the next day. I’ve never cooked chickpeas, only added to cold salads, I wasn’t sure they would turn out well. But they did, tender not at all mushy.

This pasta with chickpeas and tomatoes is very similar to pasta e fagioli, and is great for a fast, meatless dinner. We enjoyed this dish served with semolina Italian bread and garden salad and will be making it again. Next time may add chopped fresh tomatoes and vary the herbs.

This pasta with chickpeas and tomatoes recipe will now be a regular in my household! The recipe calls for canned chickpeas and canned diced tomatoes, which helps cut down on prep time and makes it so easy to put together. An added bonus is that this hearty and flavorful dish leaves a lot of room for tweaking to one’s preference: adjust the spice level by omitting or increasing the amount of red pepper flakes, adjust the level of richness by changing the amount of added cheese, and increase the protein content with additional veggies or cooked meat. All these great attributes make this a TC recipe!

I would definitely make this recipe again with minor adjustments to the spice level (e.g. increase amount of pepper flakes to balance the richness of Parmesan cheese) and add additional dried herbs such as an Italian seasoning blend (oregano, thyme, rosemary, marjoram, basil) to slightly enhance the dish’s flavor profile.




About David Leite

I count myself lucky to have received three James Beard Awards for my writing as well as for Leite’s Culinaria. My work has also appeared in The New York Times, Martha Stewart Living, Saveur, Bon Appétit, Gourmet, Food & Wine, Yankee, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, and more.


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