Pasta with chickpeas and clams is a rich and tasty first course of land and sea in its absolute simplicity. To make things easier for me, I used ready-made chickpeas I had in a can but, of course, if you have the time and desire you can use chickpeas cooked by you.
Creamy and pleasantly savory, thanks to the marine salinity of the molluscs, it gives the dish an irresistible flavor and aroma.
For this sauce, Nonna always used to choose small short pasta and leave it creamy, saucy and warm, perfect for a cold winter. Here, I chose my favourite spelt pasta and "conchiglie" shape to stay in theme with the sea and to remember my Nonna pasta dish!
For this type of pasta dish I recommend using a spoon instead of a fork :) enjoy!
For 3/4 people:
320g Stoneground white Spelt Conchiglie - Pastificio Carleschi UK
400g organic chickpeas, simply in water
600g clams
1 garlic clove
50ml dry white wine
dried chilly
fresh thyme and fresh parsley
EVO oil
salt and black pepper
In a bowl put some water with a pinch of salt, add the clams and leave them in the water for 1 hour to purge them.
Take the clams, wash them under running water and place them in a pot with the white wine. Cover with a lid and over low heat let them open. As soon as they open, remove from the heat. You should have gotten the clam water that you will soon be using.
In a saucepan add 3/4 tablespoons of EVO oil, add a clove of garlic and a few flakes of dried chilli over a medium heat.
Tips: this is not a spicy dish or you won't taste the fish and legumes. This is just to add a little extra flavour.
When the garlic clove becomes golden in colour, add the chickpeas, for less than a minute.
Now, you can add the clams water and over low heat let slowly boil the chickpeas with it for around 10min, by keeping the sauce liquid as possible. Add some black pepper and taste before adding some salt as clams water is already salty.
Remove from the heat and when it cools down blend half of the chickpeas in a blender and put back in the pan.
Now, add the clams, some with the shells and some without and the chopped parsley.
Cook the pasta a few minute short the displayed cooking time, drain and add to the pan with the sauce and over high heat add a few ladles of pasta water finish and finish to cook the pasta. But don't overcook the pasta and don't let the sauce to dry, add more pasta water if you need to finish your cooking by keeping creamy. This works as binder and will enhance your pasta dish by becoming a silky sauce. If you like serve with fresh thyme on the top, like my one! Serve warm.
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