Lemony Cavolo Nero Chickpea Pasta

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Jasmine

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Today we’re doing a simple autumnal pasta dish. I’ll hold my hands up and admit: I’m not a big fan of chickpea pasta so I’d rather just cook normal pasta with good, balanced toppings. So, instead: I’m putting chickpeas on traditional pasta, and it’s both tasty and adds some good additional nutrition…

INGREDIENTS

Pasta and filling:

Any pasta shape you like (I used conchiglie)

Cavolo Nero (or another kale variety)

Chickpeas (pre-cooked – canned or jarred)

Sauce and aromatics:

Butter

Olive oil

Garlic

Double cream

Parmigiano Reggiano (or any other Italian hard cheese / rennet-free alternative)

Lemon juice

Toppings:

Fennel seeds

Chilli flakes

Unwaxed lemon zest

Breadcrumbs (I used panko just because that’s what I had in)

Fresh parsley (or any other fresh herb you enjoy) (optional)

Lemon, Chickpea & Cavolo Nero Pasta

  • Servings: 2-3
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Print

A delicious and nutritious creamy pasta dish

No special equipment or advance prep needed 




Ingredients

    
 *
160g of pasta shells
  • 1 tbsp of breadcrumbs
  • 1 tsp of fennel seeds
  • 1 tsp of chilli flakes
  • Juice and grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon
  • A small knob of butter
  • A drizzle of olive oil
  • 2 garlic cloves (chopped, pressed or grated)
  • 160g of chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
  • 1 tbsp of double cream
  • 20g of Italian hard cheese (finely grated)
  • 70g of Cavolo Nero (de-stemmed and roughly chopped)
  • A small handful (c. 3g) of fresh parsley (de-stemmed)
  • Salt and pepper to taste



Directions

    

  1. Boil the kettle and in a frying pan, dry fry the breadcrumbs, fennel seeds and chilli flakes for c. 5 minutes until they are fragrant and slightly golden in colour – set aside and mix together with the lemon zest

  2. Bring to water to a rolling boil and salt generously before adding the pasta and cooking to al dente (e.g. if the pack notes a 10 minute cook time, cook for 8 minutes)
  3. Whilst the pasta cooks, melt the butter and olive oil in the pan over a medium heat and add the garlic, once this is fragrant: add the chickpeas and season to taste
  4. Once the chickpeas have sautéd for 5-7 minutes and have some colour, add the double cream and a little pasta water ( 1 tablespoon at a time) and reduce the heat to the lowest possible setting
  5. Add in the cheese little by little so it melts into the sauce (make sure you save some to add as a topping at the end) and adjust the consistency with pasta water as required
  6. Add the pasta and Cavolo Nero to the sauce and cook for 5 minutes until the kale softens and steams
  7. Serve the pasta topped with the crumb mix, parsley and reserved cheese
    8. 


Let me know if you try this pasta!

Check out how I make this here:

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