It’s not everyday that I come across a really easy recipe with simple ingredients that doesn’t require a lot of editing from me. And sometimes I think I come across them – on paper they appear promising only to be let down by the flavour in the end. And that is why I am SO excited to share this baby with you. Because it is all flavour. OMG. Yum. It’s the real deal. And only takes 20 minutes to cook. I am telling you. It is your new Monday night recipe using only pantry ingredients. Say hello to this little love dish, Tomato and Basil Chickpea Pasta. Ohhh hellllllllo!!!!
So you need tinned tomatoes, a jar of basil pesto, some spices and some pasta. The strong cheeses are really not needed at all as the dish stands very well on its own. I added it because I thought it made a good-looking food photo. Seriously. You’re not missing out if you don’t have the cheese. And if you are vegan and feel the need to add something for aesthetics sake, some crushed, toasted Cashews would work really well!
Don’t have canned chickpeas? I used dried chickpeas the other day but you will need to soak them overnight and perhaps fry them for a little longer to soften them. They were really lovely and crunchy though – so both tinned and fresh work just as well.
And I almost forgot to mention the onion powder – the first time I tried this recipe I just fried a chopped onion along with the chickpeas and spices but the second time around my neighbour, who I had shared this recipe with already, said she had made her own onion powder! Like, you can make onion powder? She makes everything from scratch and so I shouldn’t have been in the least bit surprised. But it was AMAZING!!!! She chopped up an onion and baked it on low for 3 hours until it was completely dried, and by low I mean 90 degrees or so. Once cooled, she blitzed it in the blender to make the most incredible smelling and tasting onion powder. So, if you have 3 hours to spare, try make some or alternately, head to Woolies or alternately simply chop an onion and fry that up until soft. We are basically wanting some onion flavour here 🙂
Enjoy!
If you like this recipe, then you are sure to like these vegetarian dishes too:
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Tomato and Basil Chickpea Pasta
Prep Time: 5 Minus- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 25 mins
Yield: 4 1x
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Pin RecipeDescription
The easiest weeknight meal you will ever make – cook this delicious Tomato and Basil Chickpea Pasta recipe with basic pantry items in just 20 minutes. It’s my new go-to meal!
Ingredients
- 1 can chickpeas, drained
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons smoked Paprika
- 1 teaspoon chilli flakes
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- A liberal amount of freshly cracked black pepper
- 2 cans tomatoes, crushed
- 1/2 cup Basil Pesto
- 4 cups Penne (or approx 450g)
- Optional: Strong Cheese such as Pecorino or Granada or Parmesan
- Optional: Garnish with Parsley
Instructions
- In a large pot, heat the olive oil on medium heat and add the chickpeas and spices – paprika, chilli flakes, fennel seeds, mustard seeds, onion powder, salt and pepper. Cook for 4-5 minutes to allow the chickpeas to get all lovely and crispy and then remove them from the pot (you’ll add these back later!)
- Now, all you need to do is add the 2 tins of tomatoes and the half a cup of basil pesto and allow to simmer for 15 minutes – I usually put the lid on the pot slightly ajar so that the sauce doesn’t splatter everywhere.
- At this point I actually get out my handheld blender and blitz the sauce so I don’t have any chunky tomato bits and it also helps to blend the pesto into the tomatoes. The result is a smooth, rich looking tomato sauce.
- In the meantime, you can cook your Penne (or whatever pasta you choose) until al dente, drain it and then add it to the sauce and mix through.
- And lastly, add the chickpeas back into the dish as well as any other toppings – a little grated hard cheese, some parsley, a little lemon juice if you choose, some crushed Cashew nuts. And then enjoy!! It will be hard not to.
Notes
Credit must go to HalfBakedHarvest.com for this recipe. All Photographs are Just Easy Recipes original photographs of the dish and the method has been re-written in my own “Just Easy Recipes” words/ interpretation after making this many times!
