Creamy Chickpea Pasta With Spinach and Rosemary Recipe • 5★

Published December 10, 2019

David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

Luxurious and hearty, cheap and easy, this vegetarian pasta uses mostly pantry staples, requiring just a few fresh ingredients, like baby spinach, rosemary and heavy cream. Canned chickpeas form the foundation of the dish: They’re cooked until crisp and caramelized. Half are then saved as a garnish, while the rest are simmered until they break down and thicken the sauce. You can swap out your greens or beans, and if you want to experiment with flavor, raid your spice cabinet: Ground coriander, toasted fennel seeds, coarsely crumbled pink peppercorns or a sprinkle of smoked paprika perk up the dish.

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¼ cup olive oil

1 (14-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary, plus more for garnish

½ teaspoon Aleppo pepper, or ¼ to ½ teaspoon red-pepper flakes (optional)

1 large shallot, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 cup heavy cream

1 (6-ounce) bag baby spinach

12 ounces spaghetti or bucatini

½ cup finely grated Parmesan

Lemon wedges, for serving

Step 1Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high.

Step 2In 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.

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 3Reduce 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.

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 4Add 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.

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 5Transfer to bowls, and top with reserved chickpeas, rosemary and black pepper. Serve immediately, with lemon wedges for squeezing on top.

Transfer to bowls, and top with reserved chickpeas, rosemary and black pepper. Serve immediately, with lemon wedges for squeezing on top.

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!

This was good, but I found the chickpeas made for a strange texture. I like the idea of pureeing them instead of using cream and will give that a try next time

Good, but I put too much salt in and then tried to fix it with lemon juice and iced it too much. It neee a little more salt at the end. If you increase the chickpeas, you should increase the sauce as well. Used 5 oz of spinach and that was ALMOST not enough.

The sauce never would have come together and the bucatini never would have finished cooking if I'd done that last combining step off heat. I cut it back on to about medium and cooked the dish down until it became saucy instead of watery.

Source: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020529-creamy-chickpea-pasta-with-spinach-and-rosemary