Pasta e Ceci Soup

Happy Halloween! I didn't do much for this holiday food-wise - sorry about that. We are definitely taking my son trick-or-treating this evening. If the rain clears up. If you're wondering, he is dressing up as Charlie Brown. It was an easy costume to make, and it is even easier to convince him to wear it.


On Halloween, I give you something....sorta orange? I'm normally not a fan of chickpeas (the ceci part of the soup), but I really liked them in this dish! I think having all that pasta surrounding the chickpeas helped. The original directions were rather confusing, to me at least. Hopefully, I've simplified them and made them easier to follow.



Pasta E Ceci Soup
adapted from Williams-Sonoma


3 Tbs plus ¼ c extra-virgin olive oil
2 carros, finely diced
1 yellow onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 plum tomatoes, diced
2 15-oz cans chick peas, drained
6 c chicken stock
2 fresh thyme sprigs
3 fresh rosemary sprigs
8 oz ditalini or other small pasta, cooked to al dente
Salt and pepper to taste
Pecorino-Romano cheese, grated


Heat 3 Tbs olive oil in a large dutch oven. Add carrots and onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 8 minutes. Add garlic and tomato, and cook another minute. Add chick peas, chicken stock, and thyme sprigs. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes. Discard thyme.

Chop one rosemary sprig and set aside. In a large skillet, heat remaining ¼ c olive oil over medium heat. Add remaining 2 rosemary sprigs and let fry for 2 minutes. Remove rosemary, and keep olive oil warm.

Using a slotted spoon, scoop about ½ of the chick pea mixture into a bowl. Mash with a potato masher until almost smooth. Add chick pea puree to the olive oil in the pan and saute for 2 minutes. Add pasta and 1 c of soup broth, and cook until warmed through. Add back to the rest of the soup. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with Pecorino-Romano cheese and reserved chopped rosemary.