Pasta e Cici (Ceci) | Tuscan Pasta and Chickpeas Recipe

Last updated on October 16th, 2026

Pasta e cici is the Tuscan pasta and chickpeas dish that blew me away in a little osteria in Tuscany, because it asks so little of you. It’s onion, carrot, garlic, rosemary, tomato paste, canned chickpeas and whatever short pasta you have in the cupboard. Blending some of the chickpeas back into the sauce is what gives it body, so it’s thick and rich without cream or anything heavy. Nothing fancy, nothing expensive, just proper technique on humble ingredients.

What Is Pasta e Cici?

Pasta e cici, also spelled pasta e ceci, means pasta and chickpeas. This Tuscan version cooks short pasta in a tomato-based sauce built on onion, carrot, garlic and rosemary, with some of the chickpeas blended back in so it lands somewhere between a soup and a stew.

Infusing the Oil With Garlic and Rosemary First

Dice 1 white onion into a medium to fine dice, nothing too chunky, so it doesn’t stand out in the finished dish, and cut 2 average-sized carrots into a medium dice so they cook down evenly rather than turning to mush in patches. Peel and halve 2 garlic cloves and add them whole to the saucepan along with a sprig of rosemary, then gently sauté both in a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil for 2 minutes. Infusing the oil with the garlic and rosemary before anything else goes in means that flavour ends up running through the entire dish, rather than just floating on top of it. It’s the same whole-garlic trick I use in my cherry tomato scarpariello.

Sweating the Onion and Carrot Without Colour

Once the garlic and rosemary have scented the oil, add the diced onions and carrots along with a pinch of salt. Sweat the vegetables on medium heat for approximately 5 minutes, aiming to soften them without any significant browning: stir regularly and pull the heat back if they start to catch, since colour isn’t what you’re after here, softness is. It’s the same restraint I use in my one-pot butternut orzo, where the goal is sweetness without colour.

Cooking Out the Raw Edge in the Tomato Paste

Now, add 250g or 8.8oz of concentrated tomato paste to the saucepan. Continue cooking on medium heat for about 2 minutes. This step matters more than it looks. Cooking the paste before any liquid goes in removes the raw, slightly metallic taste it can have straight from the tube, and deepens the tomato flavour running through the finished dish.

Easy Pasta e Ceci With Canned Chickpeas

Next, incorporate 360g or around 12.5oz of canned chickpeas (garbanzo beans) into the saucepan. I’m using canned here for ease. If you’d rather use dried, soak them overnight and cook them the next day until just softened, then use them here instead. The liquid from the cans isn’t needed in this recipe, but I keep it rather than pouring it away. Add enough boiling water to cover the chickpeas and carrots and cook for 5 minutes until the carrots further soften. Use homemade veg stock instead of boiling water if you want even more depth.

The Optional Step That Makes This Taste Richer

For a creamier texture and deeper flavour, set aside about one-fifth of the mixture. It’s optional, but it’s the step that turns this from a simple chickpea and pasta dish into something that tastes like it’s had far more attention than it actually took. Blend the reserved chickpeas into a smooth paste using a food processor, stick blender, liquidizer, or a fork. Potato does a similar thickening job in my silky spinach and potato soup.

Choosing the Right Pasta Shape

Now, it’s time to add 240g or 8.5oz of your preferred pasta shape to the sauce. Avoid using long pastas like spaghetti or smaller ones like orzo, and opt for shapes like macaroni, strozzapreti, farfalle, or the pipette shape used in this recipe: short, sturdy shapes hold up far better in a thick, stew-like sauce. Or go one step further and make my spinach cavatelli by hand. Stir the pasta into the sauce and add enough boiling water to cover, generously seasoned with salt. Bring the pan to a boil and then turn down the heat to a simmer. Cook the pasta according to the time on the package, usually between 8 and 10 minutes.

Building the Consistency: Somewhere Between Soup and Stew

While the pasta cooks, take the previously set-aside chickpea mixture and blend it until smooth. This is what gives the dish body and depth without needing cream or anything heavy. Once the pasta is fully cooked and has absorbed some of the water, add the chickpea paste back into the saucepan, gently stirring it in to maintain the integrity of the pasta. Taste for seasoning and consistency, aiming for something between a soup and a stew. For me this took about 1.2 litres (roughly 1.2 quarts) of boiling water in total, so top it up as the pasta absorbs it.

Serving Pasta e Cici

With this Tuscan pasta e cici ready to be savoured, simply spoon it into a bowl and garnish it with a sprig of rosemary and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil for that cheffy touch. It’s a deceptively simple, deeply comforting dish: proof that Tuscan cooking gets its reputation from technique and restraint, not from a long ingredient list. A few pieces of quick homemade flatbread for dunking are all it needs.

Pasta e Cici (Ceci) | Tuscan Pasta and Chickpeas Recipe

Ben Goshawk

Pasta e cici is a Tuscan pasta and chickpeas dish that sits somewhere between a soup and a stew. It starts with garlic and rosemary infused oil, onion and carrot sweated without colour, and tomato paste fried until the raw edge is gone. Blending a fifth of the chickpeas and stirring them back in gives it body and a creamier texture, and it’s ready in 33 minutes with canned chickpeas and whatever short pasta you have.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 23 minutes mins

Total Time 33 minutes mins

Course Pasta

Cuisine Italian

Servings 4

Calories 500 kcal

Equipment

• Food processor
• Mixing bowl / Bowl
• Kettle
• Chef’s knife
• Chopping board
• Vegetable peeler
• Digital scales
• Measuring jug
• Saucepan
• Ladle / Skimming spoon
• Tin opener
• Wooden / Stirring spoon

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 x white onion 200g / 7oz
• 2 x carrots 190g / 6.7oz
• 2 x garlic cloves
• 1 x sprig of rosemary
• 2 x tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 250 g / 8.8oz concentrated tomato paste
• 360 g / 12.5oz chickpeas garbanzo beans
• 240 g / 8.5oz pasta
• 1.2 litres / 1.2 quarts boiling water
• Salt to taste

Instructions

 

Prepare vegetables:

• Dice 1 white onion into a medium to fine dice
• Peel and dice 2 average-sized carrots into medium dice
• Slice 2 garlic cloves in half and peel the papery skin off
• Prepare a sprig of rosemary
• Heat a large saucepan on medium to low heat, and add a couple of tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.
• Add the garlic and rosemary, and sauté for 2 minutes, stirring regularly.
• Add the diced onions, carrots and a pinch of salt, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring regularly.
• Add 250g of concentrated tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes.
• Add 360g of chickpeas and enough boiling water to cover. Cook for 5 minutes.
• Optional: Scoop out 1/5 of the mixture and set it aside.
• Add 240g of pasta of your choice, and enough boiling water to cover. Season heavily with salt and bring the pan to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 8-10 minutes.
• While the pasta is cooking, blend the reserved chickpeas mixture until smooth.
• Once pasta is cooked, add the blended chickpeas mixture to the saucepan and stir it in.
• Taste for seasoning and adjust consistency as necessary.

Video

Nutrition

Serving: 1servingCalories: 500kcalCarbohydrates: 86.6gProtein: 17.9gFat: 10.6gSaturated Fat: 1.4gSodium: 297mgPotassium: 1110mgFiber: 12.5gSugar: 17.2g

Keyword pasta and chickpeas, pasta e ceci, pasta e cici, tuscan pasta and chickpeas

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