Pasta e Ceci is a classic Italian dish also called pasta with chickpeas or Italian chickpea and pasta stew. Made in about 30 minutes with a handful of pantry ingredients, it’s an affordable and comforting weeknight dinner that’s full of flavor.
This one pot meal is hearty, convenient and perfect for weeknights. Pasta e ceci is great because it has a short ingredient list of simple pantry staples. This makes it a dinner recipe that won’t require much time with flavors that the whole family will love.
We changed ours up a little bit, by adding some chopped Tuscan kale for color, texture, and of course some added fiber and nutrients.
I first had pasta e ceci in a café in Rome and fell in love. This really is a true Italian recipe with a tomato broth, fresh herbs like oregano and rosemary, chickpeas for protein, and ditalini pasta.
After one taste of this in Italy, I knew I had to come back and create my own version at home. The result is a recipe using just one pot and requires only 30 minutes. You’re minutes away from this classic comfort food!
If you love a great stew recipe, be sure to try out other favorite recipes like Chicken and Rice Soup, Italian Tomato Soup, and Ground Chicken Noodle Soup.
Table of Contents
Why This Recipe Works
We wanted to create a version of this classic Italian chickpea soup that could be made in one pot and in about 30 minutes. To achieve that, we tested this recipe with approachable ingredients that are easy to find.
- Comforting stew using pantry staples. We made sure to use several ingredients you probably already have on hand at home. This makes pasta with chickpeas the easiest weeknight recipe.
- Adding greens for color and nutrients. We add tuscan kale to our version, but you can also use spinach or Swiss chard too.
- One pot meal. This keeps cleanup easy for everyone, so you can enjoy your meal and not spend so much time cleaning.
Ingredients for Pasta with Chickpeas
- Olive oil: Cooking oil and fat for the recipe.
- Yellow onion: Adds a sweet vegetable base flavor to the pasta.
- Anchovy filets: You can also use anchovy paste, this adds saltiness and a burst of umami to the soup. The anchovies dissolve when cooked, so anyone who doesn’t like them will never know they were used.
- Garlic: Adds that infused garlic flavor that’s required in Italian cooking.
- Tomato paste: Brings a concentrated tomato flavor to each bite of the stew.
- Fresh oregano: You can also use 1 ½ teaspoons dried oregano for ease as well.
- Fresh rosemary: Feel free to also use 1 ½ teaspoons dried rosemary instead.
- Red-pepper flakes: Adds a punch of spice, leave it out if you like your soup mild.
- Chickpeas: Use the canned variety, this is the main protein of the recipe.
- Diced tomatoes and their juices: Makes the foundation of the broth and sauce of the pasta e ceci.
- Low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth: Use whichever fits your fancy. If you use vegetable broth, the recipe becomes vegetarian.
- Dry ditalini pasta: Classic to a pasta e ceci recipe, but you can also use other small pasta shape like orzo.
- Tuscan kale: We added this to our version for texture and a fresh boost of flavor. Spinach also works well too.
- Grated Pecorino cheese or Parmesan cheese: You can’t forget the cheese! Adds a hint of saltiness in every bite.
How to Make Pasta e Ceci
- Heat oil in a Dutch oven or large pot over medium. Add onion, anchovy fillets (if using), and ½ teaspoon salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and starting to brown, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in garlic, tomato paste, oregano rosemary, and red-pepper flakes; cook until mixture starts to caramelize, 2–3 minutes.
- Mash ½ cup chickpeas then add to soup with remaining chickpeas, tomatoes and their juices, and broth; bring to a boil over high heat.
- Reduce heat to medium-high, add pasta and simmer, stirring frequently to avoid scorching, until pasta is al dente, about 10 minutes. (If desired, add 1 cup water for a brothier soup.)
- Stir in kale and cook until wilted, about 4 minutes.
- Season to taste with salt (at least 1 teaspoon) and black pepper.
- Top each serving with grated Pecorino and a drizzle of olive oil.
Test Kitchen Tips
- What to look for when buying anchovies. we recommend buying anchovies sold in a glass jar with a lid as opposed to tins. This way you can use what you need and refrigerate the leftovers.
- Add a Parmesan rind. if you have a leftover parmesan rind on hand, toss it in when you add the broth and let it simmer as the soup cooks. Fish it out and discard it when you’re ready to serve. (In the test kitchen we store all our leftover Parmesan rinds in a zipper-lock bag in the freezer.)
- Add more protein. This pasta and chickpea stew recipe is mostly plant-based (the anchovies keep this from being vegetarian). If you want to add some animal protein we recommend shredded chicken or cooked ground pork.
- Make it vegetarian. Skip the anchovies and bulk up the tomato paste by a teaspoon or two. Use vegetable broth.
- Make it vegan. Omit the anchovies and cheese and make sure to use vegetable broth.
Storage and Freezing
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. The pasta will continue to soak up the broth, so you will likely need to add some additional broth or water to loosen it when reheating on the stove top.
You can freeze this stew but we do caution against it because the noodles can often change texture. When reheating the stew, be sure to have extra broth on hand in case it’s too thick.
More Italian-Inspired Recipes
Pasta e Ceci (Pasta and Chickpea Stew)
Description
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil + more for drizzling
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 anchovy filets, or 1 teaspoon anchovy paste, optional*
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano, or 1 ½ teaspoons dried
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary, or 1 ½ teaspoons dried
- ¾ teaspoon red-pepper flakes
- 1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes and their juices
- 4 cups low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth*
- ⅔ cup (3 ounces) dry ditalini pasta, or other small pasta shape such as orzo or rings
- 1 bunch Tuscan kale, stems removed, greens roughly chopped (4 cups)
- Grated Pecorino cheese or Parmesan cheese, for serving
Instructions
- Heat oil in a Dutch oven or large pot over medium. Add onion, anchovy fillets (if using), and ½ teaspoon salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and starting to brown, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in garlic, tomato paste, oregano rosemary, and red-pepper flakes; cook until mixture starts to caramelize, 2–3 minutes.
- Mash ½ cup chickpeas then add to soup with remaining chickpeas, tomatoes and their juices, and broth; bring to a boil over high heat.
- Reduce heat to medium-high, add pasta and simmer, stirring frequently to avoid scorching, until pasta is al dente, about 10 minutes. (If desired, add 1 cup water for a brothier soup).
- Stir in kale and cook until wilted.
- Season to taste with salt (at least 1 teaspoon) and black pepper.
- Top each serving with grated Pecorino and a drizzle of olive oil.
Would you like to save this?
We’ll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
One of my all-time favorite soups!
I thought soup season was over…snowing in Iowa…this soup is so delicious! Just right for a cold spring day. Full of flavor but not heavy. Used homemade chix broth and frozen chopped kale. So yummy!!