Pasta and chickpeas

"When I first tried pasta e ceci, I fell in love and couldn't stop making it for months. The flavor and texture are incredibly comforting, and at the risk of offending our Italian cousins, I liken its soothing properties to grown beans on toast. Depending on where you are in Italy, pasta e ceci varies drastically from region to region. In the poorer south, it appears in its purest form, made with eggless semolina pasta, chickpeas, and maybe a little tomato. Meanwhile, in the north, in the richer and more affluent regions, anchovies begin to appear in the soffritto base, with rich egg pasta and generous chunks of pancetta. I love it in all these forms, especially with good pancetta, and depending on the weather and what's in the fridge, I often throw in some of these luxurious additions. But for this book, I thought I'd show you just how good it can be in its humblest form." My only request is to use good quality cooked chickpeas."

Excerpt from the book The Farm Table Text copyright © 2023 by Julius Roberts. Photographs copyright © 2023 by Elena Heatherwick unless otherwise noted. Illustrations copyright © 2023 by Jethro Buck. Published by Ten Speed ​​Press, an imprint of Crown Publishing Group.