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This Pasta e Ceci is made with hearty chickpeas, tender pasta, and a savory tomato broth that comes together in one pot for the ultimate cozy weeknight meal!
A One-Pot Weeknight Wonder
For most of us, weeknights are incredibly busy and require vegan dinners that are
- Quick and easy to make
- Minimal clean up
- Use pantry staples
This Pasta e Ceci checks all the boxes. The entire dish comes together in one pot with 10 simple ingredients in just over 30 minutes. If you love Pasta e Fagioli or Vegan Minestrone Soup, we’re confident you’ll love this classic Italian favorite!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Aromatics: The foundational flavor building blocks! You’ll need yellow onion, garlic, fresh rosemary, and red pepper flakes!
- Tomato paste: Adds richness and a slightly sweet umami flavor.
- Broth: Creates the savory base of the stew. We’ve used both vegetable broth and vegan chicken broth and both work great. If you are sensitive to sodium, opt for a low-sodium vegetable broth.
- Chickpeas: The star of the dish! We used canned chickpeas to make dinner quick and easy, but feel free to opt for 3-3 ½ cups of chickpeas cooked from scratch.
- Ditalini: A small pasta that blends seamlessly into the stew. By cooking it directly in the broth, the pasta starches help to thicken the pasta e Ceci to perfection.
- Kale: Adds a burst of color and nutrition. Fresh baby spinach is a great alternative.
- Nutritional yeast: Contributes a cheesy flavor without adding any dairy to the recipe. If you’re shopping for nutritional yeast for the first time, check your grocery store’s spice aisle!
For a complete list of ingredients with measurements, see the full recipe card at the bottom of this blog post!
Equipment Needed
How to Make Pasta e Ceci
Making pasta e Ceci requires just a few simple steps:
- Sauté the aromatics until soft and fragrant.
- Caramelize the tomato paste until it is deep in color.
- Stir in the broth, chickpeas, and nutritional yeast and bring to a boil.
- Blend ⅓ of the soup using an immersion blender or high-speed blender.
- Add the pasta and cook until al dente.
- Stir in kale and vegan parmesan cheese.
- Ladle into serving bowls and enjoy!
Recipe FAQs
Great question! Pasta e Ceci can be referred to as both a soup and a pasta dish, but it’s most accurately referred to as a stew.
As written, it’s got an irresistibly hearty, thick consistency, but if you prefer your pasta e Ceci more soup-like, feel free to add additional broth to taste!
Let the dish cool completely to room temperature, then transfer to an airtight container. Refrigerate for up to 4 days.
Note that overtime, the pasta will continue to absorb the liquid in the recipe, so when reheating in the microwave or on the stovetop, additional splashes of broth can help loosen it up and restore the original consistency.
Freezing is not recommended, as cooked pasta will become overly soft and mushy upon thawing.
Quick Tips
- Use the right kind of pasta. In most of our vegan pasta recipes you can get away with using virtually any type of pasta, but when it comes to pasta e Ceci, ditalini is the superior pasta of choice. If you have to make a swap, we’d recommend another shortcut pasta like small elbow macaroni or small shells.
- Make sure your chickpeas are cooked! This recipe calls for cooked chickpeas, so if you only have dry chickpeas on hand, they must be cooked in advance.
- Adjust the consistency to your liking. We love our Italian pasta with chickpeas to be like a thick stew, but if you prefer yours to be more soupy, add additional broth to suit your taste buds!
More Vegan Italian Recipes You May Enjoy:
Make sure you tag us on Instagram @sweetsimplevegan and @consciouschris and hashtag #sweetsimplevegan if you make this recipe. We love to see your photos!
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Pasta e Ceci Recipe
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This Pasta e Ceci is made with hearty chickpeas, tender pasta, and a savory tomato broth that comes together in one pot for the ultimate cozy weeknight meal!
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 2 sprigs rosemary
- 1 teaspoon salt, divided
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 6 cups vegetable broth or vegan chicken broth
- 2 cans (15 oz each) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 cup dry ditalini
- 2 cups kale, chopped
- ¼ cup vegan parmesan (optional)
- Salt & black pepper to taste
Equipment Needed
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat.
- Add the onion, rosemary sprigs, and ½ teaspoon of salt. Sauté until the onion is softened and translucent, about 4-5 minutes.
- Add the garlic and red pepper flakes, if using, and sauté for another 2 minutes.
- Add the tomato paste and stir until the tomato paste darkens, about 1-2 minutes.
- Add the broth, chickpeas, nutritional yeast, and remaining ½ teaspoon of salt. Mix together until everything is well-combined.
- Bring to a boil then lower the heat to low. Simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove the rosemary sprigs. If some of the leaves fell off, that’s okay.
- Use an immersion blender to blend about ⅓ of the soup. There should still be a lot of texture from the chickpeas. Alternatively, you can transfer about ⅓ of the soup to a blender to blend and add back to the pot or use a potato masher to mash some of the chickpeas in the pot.
- Bring the soup back to a low boil and add the ditalini. Mix together and simmer until the pasta is al dente, about 8 minutes.
- Stir in the kale and simmer for another 2 minutes until the kale is wilted and the pasta is cooked through. If using, stir in the vegan parmesan until melted.
- Taste and add additional salt and black pepper if necessary.
- Garnish with vegan parmesan cheese and black pepper. Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: Italian
