Have you ever had fresh chick peas before? If you haven’t, I urge you to get to a produce market to try and find some before the season is over. I love eating canned or dried chick peas but the fresh version is the bomb. They remind me of fresh pea pods but with a more earthy taste. Fresh chick peas are also a much prettier color than dried or canned so they made my pasta look much more appealing. The down size is that is takes a little work to shell them out of the pods but it is well worth it. The fresh variety can only be found in the spring so get them while you can. I am running to a produce market today to try and get some more. I would love to try them in a salad. Aren’t they pretty?
This pasta recipe was another one of my quick meals. I like to make pasta on Sunday but this week was a busy one. So I decided to cook up this recipe in between soccer and baseball games. I reheated it for dinner and it was fine made in advance. I did sneak in a few tastes in the afternoon. The prosciutto was a little crispier before it was reheated but my husband said he would take that over ordering pizza or some other kind of take out.
Happy Monday everyone!
- 2 packages (13 to 14 oz) frozen Cavatelli
- 2 TBS olive oil
- 4 ounces chopped Prosciutto
- 2 plum tomatoes, chopped
- 1 TBS chopped garlic
- ½ lb Shitake mushrooms, cleaned and chopped
- ¾ lb fresh chick peas, shelled (about 1½ cups)
- ½ cup chicken broth, more if needed
- ½ cup light cream
- salt and pepper to taste
- grated cheese for serving
- Boil the Cavatelli in a large pot of water according to package directions. Cook pasta until Al dente. Drain and keep warm.
- In the meantime, heat olive oil in a large saute pan on medium high heat. Saute prosciutto for about 5 minutes or until crispy. Remove prosciutto from pan with a slotted spoon and reserve on paper towels.
- Add tomatoes, garlic, mushrooms and chick peas to the pan. Cook on medium heat until mushrooms are wilted, about 6 to 8 minutes.
- Reduce heat to low and add chicken broth. Add cooked pasta and light cream to the pan. Mix well and simmer for a few minutes until pasta is creamy. Add more chicken broth if needed. Toss in a bowl with the Prosciutto.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with grated cheese if desired.
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Love this dish! I haven’t seen fresh chickpeas before, but will have to search them out now… you are lucky to have access to farm markets in S. Jersey… ours won’t open until June up here!
This looks great! I hate to admit it, but I’ve never had fresh chickpeas and now I am inspired to go and hunt them down after your endorsement. They look so good.
omg this is fantabulous! I love cavatelli and then chickpeas this is a genius idea~I cant believe I hadnt thought of it… cant wait to try this awesome combo!
Beautiful photography! I like how you get protein into the dish – I’m always trying new pastas for my picky eater, this one’s finding its way to our table soon!
very easy indeed.
i adore fresh chickpeas.
and finally it’s salad season; been craving them for the last 2 weeks now
It is worth hunting them down, they were great! Loved this dish!
I didn’t know you could find fresh chickpeas here in NJ. I’m going to have to search them out and give them a try.
I have never tried fresh chickpeas – now they are on my Must Try List!
wow this looks amazing!
I’ve never had fresh chickpeas – they look fascinating!
I’ve never done the fresh chickpeas thing…will need to try that
I love, love, love chick peas! This recipe sounds great!!
Holy Moly! This looks delicious!!
I’ve never had fresh chickpeas, but now I definitely want to try them! This looks really delicious.
Lisa, that looks SO good! I just tried some of them steamed, and I agree, they taste a lot like fresh peas.