Pasta With Chickpeas and a Negroni

By Sam Sifton

Pasta With Chickpeas and a Negroni
David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Prop Stylist: Paige Hicks.
Rating
4(1,237)
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This is a no-recipe recipe, a recipe without an ingredients list or steps. It invites you to improvise in the kitchen.

A drink before dinner? Make a Negroni, then pasta with chickpeas and tomato sauce. First, the Negroni: one part gin, one part sweet vermouth, one part Campari, stirred with ice then strained over ice and garnished with orange peel. Sip! Then peel and chop an onion and sauté it in olive oil with a few cloves of smashed garlic and a spray of salt and pepper. Have another hit of Negroni. When the mixture has just started to brown, add a tablespoon of tomato paste and a 28-ounce can of chopped tomatoes, along with a stick of cinnamon. Stir and simmer away for 10 minutes or so, longer if you can, then add enough cream or half-and-half so that the sauce turns softer in color, running to pink.

Meanwhile, boil some salted water and prepare your favorite pasta (I like shells for this application) until it is just al dente. Drain, then toss in a 14-ounce can of drained chickpeas and stir the whole thing into the tomato sauce, topping with chopped parsley and a sprinkle of red-pepper flakes. Finish that Negroni. Eat.

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Comments

Ian

This was amazingly satisfying. I followed instructions exactly except: I didn't have an onion, so I omitted. We are out of olive oil but I will get some tomorrow. Also omitted tomato paste, tomatoes, cinnamon, cream, pasta and chickpeas, parsley, red pepper flakes. Did have the gin, Campari, and vermouth though! Definitely will make again and again.

Denise Quarles

The Pasta with Chickpeas is well-balanced, but I found I had to double the quantities for the Negroni.

Alan

Made it exactly as suggested, with a hit of half-and-half, using orchiette. Fabulous. A delicious and satisfying meatless dinner that took no time. And, had it not been for this “recipe”, I never would’ve discovered that Campari bottles ready-made Negroni. Just unscrew, pour over ice, add orange slice. So easy, I had two.

Hilary B.

Have a little cream in the fridge, and a stocked pantry (and bar)? Make this.

Peter

This is one of my favorite recipes on here. I’ve made it several times. Chickpeas and cinnamon sounded strange to me at first, but are wonderful in this. Most of all, I appreciate the way Sam encourages the reader to

Lucy

Maybe my proportions were off and I'd have to make it again, but I was not impressed. The Negroni really was the most compelling part about this recipe.

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