Bring a taste of Italy to your family table with Pasta e Ceci. This Italian pasta and chickpea soup is a rustic meal consisting of a thick creamy broth filled with pasta and chickpeas. It’s an iconic dish originating in Rome and is a simple way to add some healthy goodness to your family weeknight meals.
Pasta e ceci is the Italian name of this classic chickpea soup and it is pronounced “pasta eh cheh-chee”. Because the soup is so thick and hearty, it’s often referred to as a stew or pasta dish. Puréeing a portion of the chickpeas into the soup base is what gives this dish its body and creaminess. It’s quick and easy since everything cooks in one pot and the longer the soup sits the thicker and more delicious it gets. It’s Italian comfort food at its best.
Both pasta and chickpeas are common budget friendly staples in Italian cuisine and happen to be the star ingredients in this soup. My Italian mother always made it easy to turn simple economical pantry and refrigerator ingredients into the perfect meal and managed to get that meal on the table quick. This version of pasta e ceci is the way my mother made it and I love it. It’s the kind of food I grew up on.
Italian pasta soup with chickpeas is surprisingly delicious and filling in its own uncomplicated way. It can be made with chicken broth or vegetable broth for a vegetarian meal. The rustic soup is full of texture and flavour from the creamy golden broth, fresh Rosemary, plump pasta shells, protein rich chickpeas, garlic and vegetables. It’s a budget friendly one-dish meal that’s 100% Nonna approved. It will leave you feeling satisfied, nourished and cozy. Plus, it’s one of the easiest and most flavourful soups you’ll ever make!
Ingredients Needed to Make Pasta e Cici
(Ingredient amounts are listed in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post).
- Olive Oil – Use extra virgin olive oil for the best flavour to sauté the onions, celery and garlic.
- Onion – Use a sweet onion or yellow onion and dice it up to add flavour and texture to the soup.
- Celery – Dice the celery to add a little texture to the soup.
- Garlic – Mince the garlic and sauté it with the onion and celery to give the soup lots of flavour.
- Rosemary – Gives the soup a nice earthy flavour but chop it very fine so it blends into the soup.
- Chickpeas – Use canned chickpeas (ceci in Italian) also know as garbanzo beans.
- Pasta – Use small shell or ditalini (short tube) pasta or any other short cut pasta of your choice.
- Bay Leaf – Releases a nice flavour into the soup but remove it before serving the soup.
- Salt and Pepper – To season the soup.
- Parsley – Sprinkle fresh parsley on the finished soup to add some freshness and colour.
- Parmigiano Reggiano – A piece of rind to cook in the soup (if available) and grated for garnish.
How to Make One-Pot Chickpea Soup with Pasta
- In a Dutch oven add olive oil and cook onion, celery, garlic and Rosemary until tender.
- Add chickpeas and broth and bring to a gentle boil then cook until the vegetables are tender.
- With a slotted spoon remove about half of the onions, celery and chickpeas and set them aside in a bowl.
- With an immersion blender in the Dutch oven, puree the remaining broth and vegetables to a
creamy consistency.
- Return the reserved onions, celery and chickpeas to the Dutch oven.
- Bring the soup up to a light boil and add the pasta, bay leaf, cheese rind (if using), salt and pepper.
- Cook the soup until it comes to a gentle boil.
- Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and cook until the pasta is tender and expands in size. Remove the bay leaf and Parmesan rind and stir in the parsley. If necessary, thin out the soup with some additional broth.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ceci is the Italian word for chickpeas. Chickpeas are a universal pulse and are also called garbanzo beans, which is a Spanish derived name. Then there are the French who call them pois chiche and the Hindi call them chana. Basically they are all chickpeas!
Using canned chickpeas is the most convenient way to make this soup. Just be sure to rinse and drain the chickpeas before adding them to the soup. But of course if you prefer to cook your own chickpeas from dried, feel free to cook them in advance and use 2 ½ cups of cooked chickpeas.
Blending a portion of the soup ingredients before adding the pasta is what thickens the soup and gives it a creamy and rich texture. As well, when the pasta is added and it cooks in the soup, the starch released from the pasta will also thicken the soup. The finished dish ends up being thick like a stew.
Yes it is. Not only are chickpeas very healthy but they are also budget-friendly! They are a nutrient-dense food that pack in a lot of nutritional value and are an excellent source of protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals.
What to Serve with Hearty Chickpea Soup
This Pasta e Ceci Italian chickpea soup is a meal in one and very filling on it’s own for lunch or dinner. Keep it simple and serve it with crusty bread, garlic bread or focaccia. For hungrier appetites try it with an Italian-style mozzarella grilled sandwich. For a lighter choice serve it with a salad or veggie platter.
Pro-Tips and Variations For Italian Pasta Soup with Chickpeas
- Ladle out half the vegetable ingredients. With a slotted spoon remove about half of the onions, celery and chickpeas (before adding the pasta) and set aside in a bowl. The remaining portion of vegetables and all the broth in the pot get blended. Then the reserved vegetable chunks and whole chickpeas are put back into the soup for added texture.
- Thicken the soup by blending part of it. If you don’t have an immersion blender to puree the soup, then transfer the portion that needs to be puréed to a blender then return the blended portion to the Dutch oven.
- Choose from many pasta shapes. Pasta e ceci is best with small shaped pasta. Here I’ve used small shell pasta but the recipe works with a huge variety of pasta shapes like ditalini (short tubes), elbow macaroni, bow ties or short cut penne.
- The pasta should be tender and plump. This is not a pasta dish where the pasta is to be cooked al dente. For this recipe you want the pasta to cook until plump and very tender.
- Simmer the soup with a Parmigiano Reggiano rind. I keep a stash of Parmesan rinds in a zipper bag in my freezer. If you happen to have any, one piece of rind adds a lot of umami flavour to the soup. Remove and dispose the rind before serving the soup.
- Make the soup vegetarian or vegan. For a vegetarian or vegan soup use vegetable broth, and in the case of vegan, skip the Parmesan cheese and replace it with tablespoons of nutritional flakes.
- Make the soup gluten free. For a gluten free soup, use gluten free pasta types such as brown rice pasta, chickpea pasta, quinoa pasta or a multigrain pasta that’s made from corn, millet, buckwheat, quinoa, rice or amaranth.
- Thin out the soup. If the soup gets too thick for your liking (and it will thicken after it sits for a while), you can thin it out with some additional chicken or vegetable broth.
Make Ahead, Storage and Freezing Tips
Pasta with chickpeas soup is a great make-ahead meal. It can be made early in the day or up to 4 days ahead. Just let the soup cool to room temperature before storing it in an airtight container in the fridge. Warm it up in a pot on the stove or in a bowl in the microwave. To keep the soup longer, you can freeze it for up to 3 months. Thaw it in the refrigerator overnight and reheat when needed.
If you like hearty soups then try these:
Pasta Fagioli Soup with Parmesan Crisps
Recipe
Pasta e Ceci (Italian Pasta and Chickpea Soup)
Pasta and chickpea soup is a budget friendly one-dish meal with lots of texture and hearty flavour. This Italian pasta e ceci soup is like a thick stew and consists of a creamy broth, onions, celery, garlic, Rosemary, chickpeas and pasta.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 ½ cups diced onion
- 1 ½ cups diced celery
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh Rosemary
- 1 (540) ml tin chickpeas drained and rinsed
- 1.2 L chicken or vegetable broth (5 cups), possibly more
- 1 cup small shell pasta
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 Parmigiano Reggiano cheese rind optional
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley for garnish
- ⅓ cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese for garnish
Instructions
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In a 4 or 5 qt Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery, garlic and Rosemary. Sauté the vegetables while stirring occasionally until they are just tender and the garlic is fragrant, about 4 minutes.
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Add chickpeas and broth (reserve the pasta to add later). Cover, and bring to a gentle boil. Cook for 10 minutes until the vegetables and chickpeas are softened.
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Remove the Dutch oven from the heat. With a slotted spoon, remove about half of the onions, celery and chickpeas, put them in a medium bowl and set them aside. Leave all the broth and remaining half of onion, onions, celery and chickpeas in the Dutch oven.
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With an immersion blender puree the broth and ingredients in the Dutch oven until it becomes a creamy consistency. Then add back the reserved onions, celery and chickpeas to the Dutch oven.
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Return the Dutch oven to medium-high heat and bring the soup back up to a light boil. Add in the pasta, bay leaf and Parmigiano Regganio rind (if using). Season the soup with salt and pepper.
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Cook while stirring until the soup comes to a gentle boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and cover the soup. Cook until the pasta is plump and tender and expands in size, about 20 - 25 minutes, while stirring occasionally.
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Remove the bay leaf and Parmigiano Reggianio rind. Stir in the parsley and garnish with grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese just before serving.
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If the soup gets too thick for your liking, thin it out with some additional broth.
Recipe Notes
- With a slotted spoon remove about half of the onions, celery and chickpeas (before adding pasta) and set aside in a bowl. Blend remaining portion of vegetables and all the broth in the pot. Then the reserved vegetable chunks and chickpeas are put back into the soup.
- If you don’t have an immersion blender to puree the soup, then transfer the portion that needs to be puréed to a blender then return the blended portion to the Dutch oven.
- Pasta e ceci is best with small shaped pasta. I used small shell pasta but the recipe works with a huge variety of pasta shapes like ditalini (short tubes), elbow macaroni, bow ties or short cut penne.
- This is not a pasta dish where the pasta is to be cooked al dente. For this recipe you want the pasta to cook until plump and very tender.
- I keep a stash of Parmesan rinds in a zipper bag in my freezer. If you happen to have any, one piece of rind adds a lot of umami flavour to the soup. Remove and dispose the rind before serving the soup.
- For a vegetarian or vegan soup use vegetable broth, and in the case of vegan, skip the Parmesan cheese and replace it with tablespoons of nutritional flakes.
- For a gluten free soup, use gluten free pasta types such as brown rice pasta, chickpea pasta, quinoa pasta or a multigrain pasta that’s made from corn, millet, buckwheat, quinoa, rice or amaranth.
- If the soup gets too thick for your liking (and it will thicken after it sits for a while), you can thin it out with some additional chicken or vegetable broth.
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