Recipe: Garbanzo (Chickpea) Pasta Sauce

Last night while browsing through several little cookbooks my mom sent, I came across a recipe for a pasta sauce using garbanzo beans. The printed recipe, however used things like clams and squid; which, even if I were okay with them, the rest of the family definitely would not be.

That triggered an exploration in my thoughts of how to use garbanzos as a base for a different kind of pasta sauce. What follows is what ended up getting prepared. As it turns out, the sauce tastes much more substantial and "meaty." If I could find a way to turn the garbanzos into more of a ground-meat like texture (rather than a puree), I might prefer that so that the sauce looks and feels more like a meat sauce.

I'm not a huge garbanzo fan, nor are our children, but Shelley claims this is "the yummiest pasta sauce ever." (She has said that of a few other sauces I've made in the past, so take her comment under advisement.)

I served the sauce over a plate of multigrain spaghetti. I figured that as long as the sauce was on the healthy side, I might as well use something more substantial than regular pasta.

Garbanzo (Chickpea) Pasta Sauce

Serves 4 to 5

Ingredients

• 1 cup dry garbanzo beans
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/2 cup sliced black olives
• 1/2 can (about 7 oz.) crushed tomatoes in puree
• 2 tsp. dry basil (or about 1/2 cup of chopped fresh basil)
• 1/2 tsp. salt (more if stock is unsalted)
• 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup chicken (or vegetable) stock
• 2 tbsp. grated parmesan cheese
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Directions

1. Soak and cook garbanzo beans per package directions. Drain. Set aside 1/3 of the garbanzos. Place remaining 2/3 of the garbanzos in a food processor, add 1/4 cup of water and puree. If the puree gets too thick in the food processor, add more water until the beans are completely pureed. Set aside the puree.
2. In a large skillet or medium saucepan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. When hot, add onions and garlic; saute until onions start to turn golden and edges start to brown. Add olives, crushed tomatoes, basil, salt, pepper, garbanzo puree, and stock. Stir to combine and continue stirring until the mixture begins to simmer.
3. Reduce heat to medium-low, add remaining whole garbanzos, parmesan, and parsley. Stir to combine. Let simmer for about five minutes, stirring occasionally, to combine flavors. Keep sauce over low heat until ready to serve.