Orecchiette with chickpeas & sage
An herb-infused and lemony pasta that features sage and orecchiette. It's quick cooking, so prepare/ measure the ingredients out beforehand and you can make this weeknight dinner in minutes.
Ingredients
- 6 oz orecchiette or other small pasta 172 g - half of a typical (12 oz/340g) box
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided 1.5oz/40 g
- 2 tablespoons fresh sage leaves, divided in half by size. Thinly slice half the larger sage leaves and leave the smaller ones whole.
- 1 cup chickpeas/ceci, cooked (if made from dried) or rinsed (if from a can) and dried 6 oz/170 g See note
- 1 clove garlic, minced or finely diced
- 1/2 cup chicken broth, homemade or store-bought (low sodium) See note
- 1 teaspoon coarsely ground or cracked pepper
- 1/2 cup Parmesan (Parmigiano/Reggiano) or Romano cheese 1&1/2 oz/45 g See note
- 1/2 lemon, zested and juiced
Instructions
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Boil salted water and cook the pasta al dente (just barely cooked.)
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Meanwhile, heat about half the olive oil in a heavy, medium pan until just quite hot, but not smoking. Then quickly fry the smaller leaves and remove them from the pan with a slotted spoon when they are done. Leave the oil in the pan.
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Add the chickpeas to the pan and cook on high heat for 3-5 minutes until they begin to turn brown. Add the garlic, and cook for another 30 seconds, just until the garlic begins to soften. Add the chicken broth, remaining sage, and pepper. and continue cooking until the broth reduces a bit and becomes thicker.
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Drain the pasta, add the remaining half of the olive oil and stir. Then add the chickpea mixture, the lemon juice, and a good handful of the cheese. Taste and add salt if necessary. Top each portion with grated lemon rind and the reserved, fried sage leaves. Serve with remaining cheese on the side.
Recipe Notes
Drying chickpeas - I rinsed my dried chickpeas after cooking them, then poured them onto a clean dish towel and gently massaged them. You could use a paper towel - just be careful not to rub too hard or the paper will tear.
Chickpea water - The water from canned chickpeas and the water in which you cook the dried beans is called aqaufaba. If you're interested in learning about the many uses of this ingredient in vegan cooking, check out this post or this one.
Chicken broth - I keep my homemade chicken broth as well as leftover boxed chicken and vegetable broths frozen in ice cube-size portions, perfect for this recipe and others that call for small amounts of broth.