Pasta e ceci (one pot, 35 minutes)

By Nikola · Precision Nutrition L1 · Sources checked 3 November 2026

Pasta e ceci is Italian home cooking at its most basic: chickpeas, small pasta, garlic, rosemary and olive oil, cooked together in one pot until it sits halfway between a soup and a pasta dish. Part of the chickpeas get mashed, so the broth turns creamy without any cream. This version uses whole wheat pasta and canned chickpeas, and it is on the table in about 35 minutes.

Difficulty: Easy · Diet: Vegan, dairy-free (contains gluten)

Pasta e ceci

Pasta e ceci with whole wheat pasta, chickpeas, garlic, rosemary and olive oil. One pot, 35 minutes, vegan, 18 g protein and 15 g fibre per serving.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Total Time 35 minutes mins

Course Pasta

Servings 4 servings

Calories 486 kcal

Ingredients

  

• 480 g cooked chickpeas drained and rinsed (two 400 g cans, or about 200 g dried, soaked and cooked)
• 200 g short whole wheat pasta ditalini, small shells or broken spaghetti, dry
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 45 ml, about 40 g
• 1 medium onion about 150 g, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic 6 g, crushed
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary or 1/2 tsp dried, chopped
• 2 tbsp tomato paste about 32 g, no salt added
• 1 litre water or vegetable stock about 4 cups, plus up to 200 ml more
• 3/4 tsp fine salt 4 g, or to taste
• To serve: black pepper a pinch of chilli flakes, grated Parmesan or pecorino (optional, not vegan)

Instructions

 

• Warm the olive oil in a heavy pot over medium heat. Cook the onion for 6-8 minutes, until soft.
• Add the garlic and the rosemary sprig and stir for 1 minute. Add the tomato paste and stir for 1-2 minutes more, until it darkens a little.
• Add the chickpeas, 1 litre of water or stock and the salt. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Take out the rosemary sprig. Mash about a third of the chickpeas against the side of the pot, or blend a few ladles and pour them back. This is what makes the broth creamy.
• Bring back to the boil, add the pasta and cook, stirring often, for the time on the packet plus 1-2 minutes. The pasta cooks in the broth and drinks it up, so add hot water a splash at a time if it gets too thick.
• Take the pot off the heat and leave it for 2 minutes. Taste for salt and serve with black pepper, chilli and cheese if you like.

Keyword autumn, budget, chickpeas, italian food, meal prep, one pot, pasta, pasta e ceci, soup, vegan, whole wheat pasta, winter

Nutrition per serving

Per serving, 1/4 of the pot, calculated from USDA FoodData Central for each ingredient.

Data: USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy: Pasta, whole-wheat, dry (FDC 169738); Chickpeas, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt (FDC 173757); Onions, raw (FDC 170000); Garlic, raw (FDC 169230); Tomato products, canned, paste, without salt added (FDC 170459); Oil, olive, salad or cooking (FDC 171413). Pasta is calculated on the dry weight and chickpeas on the cooked, drained weight; 45 ml olive oil is counted as 40.5 g. The salt line counts only the salt you add; canned chickpeas and stock bring more, so with them use less salt or none. Rosemary, pepper, chilli, stock and cheese are not included. Carbohydrate is USDA “by difference” and includes fibre.

Swaps and variations

• Regular pasta: works the same way; the fibre per serving is lower, because white pasta has less fibre than whole wheat.
• Gluten-free: use a gluten-free short pasta and check that the stock is gluten-free too.
• Greens: stir in a handful of chopped spinach or kale for the last 3 minutes.
• Brothier: add 300 ml more water and serve it as a soup.
• Less fat: 1 1/2 tbsp oil works; each tablespoon left out takes about 30 kcal off a serving.

Storage and reheating

Keeps 3 days covered in the fridge. The pasta keeps drinking the broth, so it thickens a lot; loosen it with hot water when you reheat. If you plan to keep leftovers, cook only the pasta you need now and cook the rest fresh in the broth the next day.

Related

• Recipes: Chickpea and spinach stew · Fasolada: Greek white bean soup · Autumn minestrone with pumpkin and cabbage
• Encyclopedia: Chickpeas · Whole wheat pasta · Extra virgin olive oil · Tomatoes
• Diet: Mediterranean diet · 7-day Mediterranean meal plan

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