When the Accidental Locavore saw this recipe on epicurious, I was curious enough to see how chickpeas and pasta would work together to give it a shot. Having all the ingredients on hand was an added impetus. This serves 6:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 small shallots, chopped
- 3/4 pound fresh Mexican chorizo or hot Italian sausage, casings removed
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 15-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed
- 12 ounces small dried pasta (like gemelli, or orecchiette)
- Salt
- Finely grated Parmesan and lemon zest (for serving)
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (optional)
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat for the pasta. While the pasta water is heating, warm the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add shallots and cook 3 minutes until they begin to brown, stirring occasionally. Add chorizo and cook, breaking into large chunks with a spoon, until browned and cooked through, 5-7 minutes.
Add tomato paste and red pepper flakes to skillet and cook, stirring, until paste darkens, about 1 minute. Add broth; bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce is thickened, 15-20 minutes. Add chickpeas and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes.
While the sauce is thickening, cook the pasta until al dente. Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup pasta cooking liquid.
Add pasta and 1/2 cup pasta cooking liquid to the skillet. Cook, stirring and adding more cooking liquid as needed, until sauce thickens and coats pasta, about 3 minutes.
Sprinkle pasta with lemon zest, Parmesan and parsley, serve and enjoy!
My verdict: If I didn’t have everything on hand (except the parsley), I probably never would have made this. That being said, this was a pretty good dish! The lemon zest is the key ingredient—taking it from being only ok to being really good. My biggest complaint with it was that the chorizo I was using ended up in very tiny pieces. The next time I make it, I’ll try not to break it up so much (however, this might not be an issue with other types of sausage). Any type of fresh sausage would probably work well. I’d give it a try with merguez (maybe substitute cilantro for the parsley), or any kind of Italian sausage — I have some with broccoli rabe in it, that would be good!
