Pasta E Ceci

Photo: Frank Fariello

Ingredients

2 onions

2 carrots

1 stk celery

4 cloves plump garlic

6 smalls dried chillies, or to taste

4 ounces pancetta lardons

olive oil

1 small tin tomatoes in juice, chopped

1 bouquet garni

18 ounces cooked weight chickpeas

10 1/2 ounces ditali, short macaroni pasta

4 ounces parmesan cheese, grated

1 bay leaf

1 sprg rosemary

few parsley stalks, tied together

olive oil

Preparation

Peel and dice the onions, carrots and celery stick. Chop the garlic and chillies and put these plus the pancetta into a large heavy saucepan, along with a good 2 - 3 tablespoons olive oil.

Cook for about 10 minutes then add chopped tomatoes, bouquet garni and chickpeas. Bring to a simmer, adding enough water to cover the chickpeas by about 1 inch. Cover and simmer for 40 minutes or until the pancetta is tender.

Now turn up the heat and having removed the lid, add the pasta, stir and return to the boil. Cook, stirring often for 5 minutes, then remove the saucepan from the heat, cover and set aside for 10 minutes.

Open the pan, add a good slug of olive oil and the freshly grated Parmesan.

Check the seasoning, adding salt and pepper if needed. The liquid should have been almost completely absorbed by the pasta.