Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Wednesday

Pasta with chickpea and garlic sauce (recipe in the comments)
Broccoli and cauliflower with lemon

Cherry Garcia
Hot tea
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This is one of our more unusual recipes. You puree a chickpea, garlic, and broth mixture to form a sauce base, adding raw garlic, grape tomatoes, parsley and lemon to finish the sauce. The result is a creamy, protein-rich yum-fest. Most people have never had a pasta like this, which is unusual for any pasta recipe these days. It's fast to prepare as well. This is another recipe that benefits from a stick blender (immersion blender), but you can puree the sauce base in a regular blender (just remove the center of the top (to vent the steam), cover with a dish towel, and blend away - do it in two batches). The results tonight were especially good - if only we knew what we did right!

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Moderate
Chopping: Garlic (crushed and minced), grape tomatoes, parsley
Time: 35 minutes
Make ahead: Make the sauce ahead and toss over freshly cooked pasta.

Reaction
J: "Better than ever! Wish we knew what we did differently :)"
M: "Get your daily serving of garlic!"

2 comments:

J said...

Pasta with Chickpea and Garlic Sauce – M & J (inspired by Cooking Light)
Serves 3-4

1 ½ T olive oil
4 garlic cloves, crushed with the flat of a knife
¾ t kosher salt
½ t red pepper flakes
2 cans chickpeas, drained
2 cups chicken broth
1 lb. chunky pasta (shell shaped is our favorite)
1 hefty cup halved grape tomatoes
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 T parsley, minced
2 T lemon juice
Parmesan to serve

Heat oil in a medium saucepan (high sides) over medium heat. Add crushed garlic, and sauté for 1 minute. Add salt, pepper, chickpeas, and broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

Cook pasta and drain well.

Immersion blend chickpea mixture until smooth. Combine chickpeas, pasta, tomatoes, minced garlic, parsley, and lemon, tossing well. Serve with cheese.

J said...

Note: You can certainly use veggie broth in this :)