Creamy Chickpea Pasta With Spinach and Rosemary

- Total Time
- 30 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- Kosher salt
- ¼cup olive oil
- 1(14-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 2teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary, plus more for garnish
- ½teaspoon Aleppo pepper, or ¼ to ½ teaspoon red-pepper flakes (optional)
- Black pepper
- 1large shallot, finely chopped
- 2garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1cup heavy cream
- 1(6-ounce) bag baby spinach
- 12ounces spaghetti or bucatini
- ½cup finely grated Parmesan
- Lemon wedges, for serving
Preparation
- Step 1
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high.
- Step 2
In a wide, deep skillet, heat the oil over medium-high. Add the chickpeas, rosemary and Aleppo pepper, if using. Season generously with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until chickpeas start to caramelize at their edges and pop, 5 to 7 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer about half the chickpeas to a bowl. Reserve for garnish.
- Step 3
Reduce the heat to medium, add the shallots and garlic to the skillet, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until shallots are softened, about 3 minutes. Add the heavy cream and cook until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes. Turn off the heat, stir in the spinach and season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Step 4
Add the pasta to the boiling water and reduce the heat to medium. Cook the pasta until a couple minutes short of al dente according to package instructions, about 5 minutes. Do not drain the pasta, but using tongs, transfer the pasta directly from the pot to the spinach and cream sauce. Add 1 cup pasta cooking water and the Parmesan, and cook over medium-high, stirring vigorously with the tongs, until the sauce is thickened and the noodles are al dente, about 2 minutes. Add a splash of pasta water to loosen sauce, if needed.
- Step 5
Transfer to bowls, and top with reserved chickpeas, rosemary and black pepper. Serve immediately, with lemon wedges for squeezing on top.
Private Notes
Comments
Instead of adding heavy cream (Italians would never dream of using it) purée half the chick peas into a smooth sauce and voila you get vey creamy sauce. Light and delicious M
What is behind the rise of pasta recipes that call for 12 oz of pasta? Pasta comes in 1lb boxes. It’s frustrating to see this approach in an increasing number of nytimes recipes.
Forget about the high fat content from CREAM...use FAT FREE evaporated milk instead...I would defy anyone to know the difference!
I cooked the chickpeas from scratch and added aquafava to the sauce. Puréed most of the chickpeas and some zucchini. Added greens and butter. Took some sauce out of pan cooled it and added yogurt. It did not curdle. Added it to the rest of the sauce . Added pesto. Delicious.
This was so freaking delicious I will 10000% make this again and again and again...and thank you all for the pro tips of pulverizing half the chickpeas with a little cream and pasta water to taste separately then adding back to the pan, and adding more pasta water as needed for the sauce. AHHH FREAKING GOOD!
Not sure if it’s fair of me to give it a 4 since I didn’t have lemon, spinach or French rosemary. Enjoyed it. Appreciated the creaminess and husband is going back for seconds. Used peas in lieu of Spinach, which added a satisfying pop when chewed and sweetness also. Will make again.