members recipes

This is a simple, cheap and nutritious pasta dish. To pre-cook chickpeas ,soak overnight then place in a large saucepan with plenty of fresh water and some onion,carrots,celery and rosemary sprigs for flavour. Cook for approx. 2 hours or till tender but not too soft and add salt towards the end of cooking, once the skins have softened.

Ingredients
approx• 500g cooked chickpeas (reserve about 1 litre of the cooking water)
3 small tomatoes, skinned,de-seeded then chopped
1 litre of cooking water (or use plain water/mild stock)
Approx• 150g of small pasta shapes (ditalini, short cut macaroni, etc)
1 med• onion, finely chopped
1 sprig of rosemary, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
1/4 -1/2 tsp chilli flakes (optional)
approx 50ml of olive oil
Salt and pepper to season

Method
1. Pour the olive oil into a heavy based saucepan and heat gently. Add the rosemary to the pan and fry over a gentle heat till it begins to release its aroma.
2. Add the onions and garlic to the pan and fry over a gentle heat till soft and golden.
3. Add the chopped tomatoes and fry for just a couple of minutes before adding the cooked chickpeas, water and the seasonings. Simmer for approx 20mins, then remove about half of the soup and process through a food mill (use a blender if you don\'t have a food mill). Return the pureed soup to the pan.
4. Add the raw pasta then simmer gently, stirring regularly to make sure the pasta doesn\'t start sticking to the base of the pan. Add a little more water/stock if necessary.
5. Once the pasta is done, let it rest for a few minutes before serving.
6. Serve with a little drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.