Fried Tagliatelle With Chickpeas and Smoky Tomatoes Recipe (2024)

I oven roast surplus eating tomatoes from our garden every summer, freezing them for winter use. This summer I poured the oil from the pan (infused with tomato juice and salt from the roasting) into freezer containers. I have been using this salty, tomato-flavored liquid to add a zing of flavor to sauces, stews and soups. An easy way to have tomato oil handy all year.

Just made it with canned chickpeas and it was delicious (skipped the soaking step, obviously)!

Added fresh thyme, rosemary and some spare anchovies to the oil. Turned out really great.

How about using fresh pasta? Would you dry it before frying?

how do you adjust the liquid / baking soda when using canned chickpeas?

You buy them in nest form. My not-fancy supermarket sells two -- angel-hair nests and fettucine nests -- from Colavita, for $3.29/lb; I'm guessing that most supermarkets sell some. I'm on a tight budget -- can't spend that much on pasta -- so I'm going to try it with loose penne and see how that goes. Worst-case scenario will be penne cooked in the regular way with a delicious sauce.

According to an article from Food52, which quotes a place called the Bean Institute (!), adding baking soda to the cooking water cuts the cooking time by about half; the person who wrote the Food52 article surmised that adding it to the soaking water *further* cut the cook time.As someone who cooks dried beans about 1x/week, I too am skeptical that beans will cook in so short a time -- but Mr. Ottolenghi knows his stuff, so I'm gonna try it his way.

This was amazing! Trust the recipe. At multiple points, I didn’t think the recipe would work. The sauce seemed separated and almost grainy until it infused together, I didn’t believe the chickpeas would be soft (they were), and because the nests weren’t fully submerged in the liquid, I thought I would have half al dente, half crunchy pasta, which was not the case! So delightful.

How can dried, soaked chickpeas be done in 25 minutes? They usually take a full hour, at least, to cook?

How much water did you add in Step 3?

Used one dehydrated chipotle pepper chopped. Topped it off with 1/2 lemon worth of juice.

Delicious and a big hit! I made this mostly as written but with canned chickpeas because I was out of dried. Like some others, I was at a loss about the amount of water. I measured out the liter, started by using half but ended up using most of it in order to get the pasta to soften. I used my standard red pepper flakes and I found it a little too spicy. I will scale back a smidge next time. Which will be soon as my Colavita fettuccine nests available from basic supermarket come in a large bag.

Sounds great! Is it possible to cook this with canned chickpeas? Or do the dried offer better flavor?

Ottolenghi is a stickler for the dried because they are better really but in a pinch the canned ones left out drained overnight will work just fine too....

In keeping with the spirit of this recipe, I made a lot of substitutions to use what was in my pantry. I used a can of diced tomatoes instead of cherry tomatoes, loose rotini instead of tagliatelle, dried parsley instead of fresh, chili powder instead of chipotle flakes, and I added oregano. It came out amazing. If anyone wants to use loose pasta instead of nested, just keep a close eye and stir frequently so they don't burn.

Yes, the chickpeas do get tender! (I was concerned too, but as someone else said below, trust the recipe). The baking soda is the magic ingredient. Also be prepared to lower the heat and cook just a little bit longer than advised after you add the pasta, to make sure it gets tender without absorbing all the sauce (It will be a little chewy where it's fried, but that's part of the charm). Really delicious!

Having made this twice, here are my tips/preferences: 1) ~9 oz pasta (gluten-free works fine), 2) 1/4tsp chipotle powder rather than flakes, 3) 1/3c oil rather than 1/2, 5) veggie stock rather than water, 5) dried rather than canned chickpeas for more bite (if you use canned, 3.5c liquid is enough).

The flavor profile is great but not sure tagliatelle nests are the right choice. I had trouble nesting them deep in the fluid, and they ended up in an odd state of noodle rigor mortis that was difficult to eat without splashing sauce all over my face. Next time, I will try frying about 1/3 lb rotini and STIRRING this into the chickpea mixture to burble along at a deeper level.

I've made this so many times it's become muscle memory. But today, what? No tomato paste?? Hmm. I've got this tube of Gochujang paste. Boom. Another depth of richness. New muscles taking over...

Delicious dish, but two changes would make this clearer and easier for most of us:1. Despite traveling to nearly every state in Mexico, I've never seen or heard of "chipotle chili flakes" - must be a UK thing? Substitute 2 teaspoons of chipotle powder, more if you want more heat and smoke.2. Canned garbanzos are infinitely easier and faster, and with all those other powerful flavors, they're all about the texture anyway - but then knowing how much water or stock to add becomes tricky.

Pretty plain. I used 1 tsp ground chipotle plus 1/2 tsp ancho. Was slightly too hot for my friend.

I love Ottolenghi. His are brilliant and always delicious, but this was odd. All the pieces of the recipe turned out very well, but after putting it all together, it ended up as mush. The chickpeas did not appear to be overcooked, but after cooking the pasta, waiting for the all water to absorb, it ultimately became too mushy when it was all done. The flavors were good but the final product was far less than I expected - especially from the always incredible Ottolenghi.

I have made this multiple times. I use canned chickpeas. It's fine. Also, I don't see the point of frying the pasta. So, the tomato oil per the recipe, add the garlic and chickpeas towards the end. Boil pasta and add to the tomato/chickpea mixture. Yum. Tonight, because I needed to use it up, I added fresh spinach to the tomato/chickpea mix. Really good and adds a bit of healthy! This is a great and flexible recipe!

Pretty good. Don't cook pasta for more than 10 min (too much water evaporates); Liliana suggests not frying the nests, which seems fine.Very hearty.

this also works with regular pasta shapes like penne. canned chickpeas work fine too, just maybe cook them a little less. use fresh lemon juice and even add a little zest

Amazing vegan recipe. This will wow your crowd. I used canned chickpeas and only 3 cups water to cook. Also doubled the sauce and the ratio was perfect. Easy and quick to make after the first run through so a good weeknight dinner.

I made this with canned chick peas. The tagliatelli nests didn't cook. I'm thinking I messed up on the liquid.

Followed the recipe, the nests were raw and inedible. Cooking longer to try to soften the pasta made the chickpeas mush. Might try again with the sauce spooned over the properly cooked pasta.

A lot of questions about the water, making me think few people cook dried beans regularly. All you need to do is make sure there’s enough H2O to cover the beans. I usually bring the water line approximately 1-2 centimeters above the top of the beans as they will absorb it. Of course, be sure to drain once they’ve softened.

Used angel hair nests and made a half recipe, still made 3 very generous servings, Thought it could use more chipotle, lemon, garlic. Might try different beans next time or use dried chickpeas vs canned, as even with a lot of rinsing the canned are a bit metallic. Served with YO's tahini sauce and a bit of his marinated feta.