Do you love to find out something new and different about the dishes you cook, a different regional style or method than your usual? This is what makes Italian Regional Cooking so fascinating and endless for me. PASTA E CECI, or Macaroni and Chick Peas is a very popular dish in the Italian south and can vary in many ways from region to region. During the week of the Feast of Santa Lucia (December 13) one of the customary foods Sicilians eat to honor the holiday is CECI, or Chick Peas/Garbanzo Peas. Certainly, they are not unique to Sicily but are eaten all over Italy and the Mediterranean. Sicily seems to have an abundance of great recipes using them, as to Liguria, Nice, Morocco, and of course the entire Middle East where Hummus reigns supreme. In my Italianamerican group on Facebook a member posted this Pasta e Ceci Siracusana he made for St. Lucy’s Day. I was intrigued. What made this different from the usual suspects of Pasta e Ceci (which is basically the same as Pasta e Fagioli only here you use Chick Peas and it become its own classification of dishes.) This “new” dish, I HAD to learn more about and there’s really not much on line about it, as foods cooked alla Siracusana can mean a few different things, basically. various styles from Syracuse. BTW, Santa Lucia was a native and is the patron of Siracusa.
However one blogger, Ritamordikitchen seems to have given a plausible reason for the dish. The custom is to cook the Ceci with Rice and the other ingredients, but this is a recipe for using short cut tube soup pasta (Ditali Rigati/lisci, etc) for the dish. I love it!! Also, this dish uses potatoes which all the other Pasta e Ceci dishes I make do not. So, SCORE!! This is a win-win with learning something new and having yet another dish to make. My daughter Mika couldn’t get enough of it. This “soup” for lack of a better word will happen again in my kitchen. I can’t wait to make it again and you’ll feel the same!!
PASTA E CECI RISOTTATI ALLA SIRACUSANA
SERVES 4 COOKING TIME: 2 HOURS OR LESS (USING CANNED CECI)
1 MEDIUM ONION, SMALL DICE
2 PEELED CARROTS, SMALL DICE
2 CELERY STALKS, SMALL DICE
2 MEDIUM POTATOES, SMALL DICE
6 SLICED CHERRY TOMATOES
1 SPRIG FRESH ROSEMARY (IF USING DRIED, PLACE 1 TSB. IN A CHEESECLOTH TIGHTLY TIED
EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL
PINCH PEPERONCINO
4 CUPS VEGETABLE OR CHICKEN STOCK
2 DRAINED CANS OF CECI (CHICK PEAS)
3/4 lb IMPORTED ITALIAN DITALI RIGATI OR LISCI OR SIMILAR SOUP PASTA COOKED JUST TILL AL DENTE
SALT TO TASTE
FRESHLY GRATED PARMIGIANO, OR CACIOCAVALLO, OR PECORINO
In a heavy bottomed pot heat 2 tbs of the olive oil. Add the potatoes and season with salt and peperoncino. Let this cook for about 8 minutes, stirring to the potatoes don’t stick together. Add the onions, carrots, tomatoes, celery. Season again to taste with salt. Let this saute’ till they are just starting to get soft. Maybe 15 minutes or so. Keep on a moderate flame to prevent browning. Then add 2 cups of the water or stock and the rosemary. Stir and bring to a boil and let this boil for 10 minutes. Reduce and cook until all the vegetables are soft. Taste for seasoning. Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes. Remove the rosemary. Using an Immersion Blender ( or standard one) puree till this is a smooth creamy mixture. Place back on the heat adding the Ceci. Stir, a drizzle of more Extra Virgin Olive Oil and the other 2 cups of stock (or water) and gently blend into the soup. Bring this to a boil for 5 minutes then reduce to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes stirring frequently. Now add the al dente pasta and blend in. Cook for 4 minutes and then remove from the heat. After 5 minutes add 2 tbs of freshly grated cheese to the soup along with another drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Blend this and it will start to gently thicken the soup and give it amazing flavor. Let this now sit for 5 minutes, serve. Extra olive oil and peperoncino and a few fresh rosemary leaves are a great finishing touch. HAPPY COOKING AND BUON APPETITO!!
A FOOD OBSESSION 