Tubetti con Ceci e Cicoria – Small Pasta Tubes with Chickpeas, Escarole and Pancetta Recipe
SMALL PASTA TUBES WITH CHICKPEAS, ESCAROLE, AND PANCETTA
When I buy escarole for winter salads, I look for heavy heads with lots of crisp, blanched heart. The dark green outer leaves are too tough for salad, but I never throw them away. I save them until the next day, then blanch them and reheat them with olive oil and garlic, or use them in pasta sauces.
Canned chickpeas have good texture and flavor, and I don’t consider them a compromise. (Avoid the bland low-sodium versions.) Enhanced with pancetta, onion, garlic, and rosemary, then simmered a few minutes with pasta and escarole, they make an easy and nourishing dinner. Get out your best olive oil for the final flourish.
Serves 4 to 6
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
¼ pound pancetta, minced
1 red onion, minced
2 large cloves garlic, minced
Pinch of hot pepper flakes
Two 15½-ounce cans chickpeas (not low sodium), with their liquid
One 4-inch sprig fresh rosemary
Salt
2 large heads escarole
1 pound tubetti (ditali) or other small dried pasta
Preparation instructions:
Heat the olive oil and pancetta in a large skillet over moderately low heat and cook until the pancetta begins to crisp, about 10 minutes. Add the onion and cook until soft, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and hot pepper flakes and cook briefly to release their fragrance. Add the chickpeas, including their liquid, and the rosemary sprig. Bring to a simmer, cover, and adjust the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook until the chickpeas are bathed in a flavorful sauce, about 10 minutes. Check occasionally and remove the rosemary sprig when the flavor is strong enough. Season with salt to taste. Keep warm.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Separate the escarole heads into individual leaves. Reserve the pale tender hearts for salad. Add the other leaves to the boiling water, pushing them down into the water with tongs. Cook for 2 minutes, then transfer them with the tongs to a sieve and cool quickly under cold running water. (Keep the cooking water at a boil.) Drain the escarole well, then squeeze gently to remove excess water. Chop coarsely.
Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook until about 2 minutes shy of al dente. Set aside 1 cup of the pasta water, then drain the pasta and return it to the warm pot over moderately low heat. Add the chickpeas and the escarole. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is al dente, 3 to 4 minutes longer. Moisten with some of the reserved pasta water as needed. Remove from the heat and let stand, covered, for about 5 minutes. Serve in warm bowls, drizzling a generous amount of olive oil over each portion.
Recipe from the “Four Seasons Pasta: A Year of Inspired Recipes in the Italian Tradition” cookbook.