Pasta salad with tomatoes and chickpeas
( Insalata di pasta con ceci e pomodori )

Recipe for pasta salad with chickpeas and tomatoes

Preparation and cooking

• - The evening before: rehydrate chickpeas.
  Soak dried chickpeas overnight using cold water.
• - The day after: cook chickpeas.
  Rinse your chickpeas, transfer them into a pan, cover with abundant cold water and bring to the boil.
  At this point lower the flame and continue cooking until tender, about an hour.
  Be careful your chickpeas are always covered with water.
  Add other boiling water only if necessary.
  Drain chickpeas very well and put apart.
  You have to season with salt only in a second time.
• - Prepare tomatoes and chives.
  Peel tomatoes, remove their seeds and chop.
  Transfer tomatoes into a large bowl together with chickpeas.
  Clean, wash and chop chives.
  Add to other ingredients.
  Add olive oil too.
  Season to taste with salt.
  Stir and put apart.
• - Cook pasta.
  Cook pasta al dente stage in abundant salt water.
  Drain your pasta and run under cold water in order to stop cooking, drain again.
• - The last step.
  Transfer the pasta into the bowl and stir with delicacy.
  Your dish is ready.

Just before cooking

• - Wait for an hour before serving for a better taste.

Note

Tips

• - For a quicker recipe: use canned chickpeas: 1 400g (14 ounces) can chickpeas
• - In the photo you can see I use wholemeal pasta for an healthy daily diet.
• - Remember to use olive oil after cooking to preserve its extraordinary nutritive value as I suggest in the recipe description.
• - You have the best result with organic ingredients, really!
• - Everyone will like it included vegan people.

Menu planning

• - I suggest this pasta salad version made with canned chickpeas for your daily menu. It's simple-to-do, healthy and quick. But I have to specify it would be healthier and tastier with dried chickpeas.
  Besides you can prepare it for a dinner party or a barbecue with your friends (the doses are enough for more people in this case)

Healthy eating

• - In this case I calculated nutrition facts with canned chickpeas, really used more.
  Note the amount of calories and the combination of its ingredients. It can be only one-plate meal.
  According to Mediterranean diet you have in the same dish: wholemeal pasta (the best source of carbohydrates and fibers), tomatoes (special source of vitamins and minerals, carbohydrates and fibers), chickpeas (source of proteins and fibers) and olive oil (with the right amount of fat). Mediterranean diet suggests the combination of pasta and pulses for a healthy diet.
  Eat some fresh seasonal vegetable if you are still hungry. Eat fresh fruit as a snack at afternoon.
  Here are the doses per head: 80g (2.8 ounces) pasta, 50g (1 3/4 ounce) dried chickpeas or 100g (3 1/2 ounces) canned chickpeas, well drained and then 200 to 300 g (7 to 10 1/2 ounces) fresh tomatoes, aromatic herbs and 2 teaspoons olive oil.

Loretta

What's the right wine for " Pasta salad with tomatoes and chickpeas "?

My husband and I suggest a medium-bodied red wine such as Valpolicella (wine from Veneto in Italy) or Nardò rosso (red wine of Apulia) to pair with this pasta salad. You could serve Nardò rosato too.