Pasta Meets Chickpea Stew—and It Works

What happens when silky chickpeas, golden broth, and ruffly pasta come together in one bowl? This dish—part stew, part pasta, all comfort.

Lou LaMedica

Jul 17, 2025

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Mafalde Corto with Rancho Gordo Ceci Piccoli

Ingredients

Instructions

Mafalde Corto with Rancho Gordo Ceci Piccoli

A silky, brothy stew of chickpeas, vegetables, and pasta finished with Parmigiano and good olive oil

This is comfort food that whispers rather than shouts—onion, garlic, saffron, pine nuts, and chickpeas build a savory foundation that’s deep and fragrant. The pasta nestles in among the vegetables, soaking up the golden broth. It’s meant to be a little soupy—that’s where the magic is. Spoon and fork required.

Ingredients

2 medium yellow onions, diced

8–9 cloves roasted garlic, mashed into a paste

1 generous pinch saffron threads

1/2 tsp red hot chili flakes

2 Tbsp pine nuts

Extra virgin olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper

1 medium carrot, peeled, quartered lengthwise, and sliced thin

4 ladles of cooked Rancho Gordo Ceci Piccoli (chickpeas) with broth

1 zucchini, quartered lengthwise and sliced thin

~1 tsp Better Than Bouillon vegetable base (or to taste)

1 14 oz organic diced tomatoes

1 bunch fresh spinach, chopped

1 lb. dry Mafalde Corto pasta (or similar short ruffled pasta)

Freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano

Instructions

In a deep sauté pan, warm a few tablespoons of EVOO over medium heat. Add diced onions, carrots, garlic paste, chili flakes, pine nuts, and a pinch of salt. Cover and cook gently until the onions begin to turn golden.

Pour some water over the saffron in a small bowl and let it bloom.

Stir in the chickpeas with their broth, diced tomatoes, zucchini, and enough water to just cover everything. Add the Better Than Bouillon and simmer gently for 15 minutes.

Add the saffron water and the chopped spinach and let it melt into the broth.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in salted boiling water until just shy of al dente. Drain and add to the pan where you made the chickpea stew. I like to season the pasta now with salt and pepper before I mix it. Then stir it into the stew.

Ladle into bowls and finish with grated Parmigiano Reggiano and a generous drizzle of your best olive oil. It should be a little brothy—that’s the point.