This recipe appealed to me initially because I had some cooked chickpeas in the fridge looking for a home, and I had made enough batches of hummus—increasingly garlicky—to drive any and all friends away with a huff of my breath. This seemed like a wiser idea.
The thought had never occurred to me, putting legumes in a tomato sauce for pasta, but the result was quite appealing, an easy and inexpensive way to add some interest (and protein) to an everyday dish.
The other interesting twist with this recipe, from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food, was to mix in some chicken stock with the crushed tomatoes. As the sauce simmers and reduces, the result is something richer than your average quick tomato sauce. Crushed red pepper flakes add a little aggression to the mix, a necessary component to stand up to the extra chickpea bulk.
About the author: Blake Royer founded The Paupered Chef with Nick Kindelsperger, where he writes about food and occasional travels. He is currently living for the year in Tartu, Estonia.
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