Serves 6 to 8 • Inspired by Pasta e Ceci, NYT Cooking
At My Table
This is the soup course from the bay window table at our fall shoot with Abigail's. The broth gets its body from chickpeas blended right back into the pot, and it is better on the second day.
Directions
Warm the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add the onion, carrot and celery with a pinch of salt and cook slowly, stirring now and then, for 12 minutes. They should be very soft and golden, small enough to melt into the broth.
Add the garlic and rosemary and cook 1 minute. Stir in the tomato paste and cook 2 to 3 minutes, until it turns brick red.
Add the passata, stock, Parmesan rind and chickpeas. Season with 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper and simmer 20 minutes.
Ladle out about 1½ cups of the chickpeas with a little broth, blend until smooth and stir back into the pot. This gives the broth its soft, rosy body.
Add the ditalini and kale and simmer 10 minutes, until the pasta is tender, adding a splash of stock if it gets too thick. Stir in the kidney beans for the last minute. Lift out the rind and rosemary and taste for salt.
Ladle into warm soup plates. Top each with a sprig of parsley and a few drops of olive oil, and pass the Parmesan.
Kitchen Notes
To make ahead, stop before the pasta. Cool and refrigerate up to two days, then reheat and cook the ditalini in the soup just before serving.
The pasta keeps drinking broth as it sits. Loosen leftovers with a little hot stock.
For a meatless table, use vegetable stock and leave out the Parmesan rind.
Tonight Is the Occasion™
Ingredients
¼ cup good olive oil, plus more for serving
1 medium yellow onion, minced
1 small carrot, minced
1 celery stalk, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 sprig fresh rosemary
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup tomato passata (strained tomatoes)
7 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 Parmesan rind
3 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 cup ditalini
2 cups finely chopped Tuscan kale, stems removed
½ cup cooked red kidney beans
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Flat-leaf parsley sprigs and grated Parmesan, for serving
