Spring has arrived but there is still a chill in the air. Before it gets too warm, I want to share a delightful and delicious soup recipe with you from the beautiful region of Abruzzo (and also Molise). Sagne e Ceci is a fresh pasta and chickpea soup seasoned with garlic, rosemary, and bay leaf. Despite its rustic and humble nature, it is a very satisfying and inviting dish. It’s one of those Italian preparations that surprises you by tasting like so much more than it is. In my post, I’ll take you through all of the steps to prepare this dish in a regular stockpot or in a pressure cooker which makes this soup doable on a weeknight.
Some background
Sagne e Ceci is considered part of the “cucina povera“, as in peasant food. Cooks took what was locally available to them and made magic. If you break down the ingredients – garlic, rosemary, bay leaf, chickpeas, extra virgin olive oil, flour, and water, you see items that most people could grow themselves or readily find locally. Apparently, in the past, Sagne e Ceci was given to nursing women to help with milk production! I can’t say if it actually does help with that, but do know that chickpeas are full of nutrients. Pair the chickpeas with some pasta made with local grain, and you have a rather healthy dish.
It’s all about the ingredients
Abruzzo produces a variety of grains and chickpeas which are the two main components of the dish. You need the grains to make the flour and the chickpeas are the economical and delicious protein in the soup. There are some wonderful soft and hard wheat varieties produced in Abruzzo as well as farro. Some local grains are Solina (soft wheat/grano tenero), Saragolla, and Senatore Cappelli (hard durum wheat/grano duro). As for the chickpeas, there are renowned chickpeas grown in places like Navelli in the L’Aquila province. In addition to regular chickpeas, in the past, black and red chickpea varieties were also grown and used in the recipe. Currently, some farmers are bringing these varieties back. They each have their own characteristics in terms of flavor and nutrients. To keep things accessible, we’ll be using regular chickpeas but you can find the other varieties online.
Abruzzo is also a region that has some truly scrumptious extra virgin olive oil. It’s some of the best I’ve ever tasted and that’s saying something! For those of you that don’t know, we have a summer apartment in Abruzzo. Last fall, a neighbor gave us some of his fresh-pressed extra virgin olive oil and it was shockingly good. More people need to know about the quality of the food and products in these lesser-known regions! They are so worth exploring.
Sagne e Ceci…
Sagne e Ceci is a staple dish in the area. We see it often on menus. Some restaurants make it year-round, even in summer. My daughter loves Sagne e Ceci so much that she will order it in a restaurant even in August if she spots it on the menu! Not even the summer heat can dissuade her. Therefore, I had to learn how to make it myself!
Italy has a huge repertoire when it comes to pasta and bean soups. You see versions in all 20 regions using different kinds of beans, aromatics, and varying types of fresh and/or dried pasta shapes. It makes sense considering how delicious and inexpensive they are to prepare. Honestly, they are some of my favorite dishes. I always find them comforting and homey.
When it comes to chickpea and pasta soup, I’ve been making it for years but not like this. This particular version was a surprise to me when I first sampled it. It’s simpler than many bean soups of its kind. For one thing, it’s less thick. The soup is brothy rather than blended. Also, the pasta itself was unfamiliar to me. Sagne are thick, short, rectangular cuts of pasta made simply with flour and water. They are perfect for soups and are nice and light since there is no egg in the dough.
Sagne Pasta with Chickpeas, the recipe breakdown
My recipe is based on how my daughter likes it and how it’s served in our neck of the woods in the Pescara province. It’s basically the chickpeas and bean broth infused with garlic, rosemary, and bay leaf with the fresh sagne pasta added. The pasta itself can be made with soft wheat (grano tenero such as 00, 0, Solina, or unbleached all-purpose flour) or hard wheat (grano duro such as Saragolla, Senatore Cappelli, or regular finely ground durum wheat flour), or a combo of the two (50% of each), and water. You can make it differently each time depending on your mood! If you feel like it, the addition of farro flour or whole wheat works too.
That’s essentially the entirety of the recipe. It’s simple and pristine. Some, however, do embellish more. I’ve tasted versions with local Abruzzese saffron in the broth with fresh porcini mushrooms. Some add pork products such as minced prosciutto or pancetta, and others include a touch of tomato. Hot or sweet chili peppers, which are both very abundant in the area, are also common additions. If you do like heat, you can do what we do and add a touch of chili oil on top for some spice. It’s so very delicious. Some other options would be to add onion, carrot, and celery (soffritto), or a touch of parsley. I must say though that my simple version doesn’t feel lacking in any way. It’s perfectly lovely without any additions.
I love my pressure cooker
I adore my pressure cooker, especially when it comes to cooking legumes. It can take a culinary task that might take well over an hour and shorten it to under 30 minutes. You cannot beat that. When you cook legumes, you need to soak them first. Ideally, you do this overnight to let the beans double in volume. However, with a pressure cooker, I’ve had great success simply soaking my beans in the morning, and cooking them at night. It can take as little as 15-20 minutes if the beans aren’t too old. I’ve never had the process take longer than 30 minutes.
Also, when you use a pressure cooker, you do not need to skim off any scum as your liquid comes to a boil. Just place your beans and aromatics in your pressure cooker, pop on the lid, bring it all to pressure, lower the heat, cook, and be done with it. What a lifesaver.
Sagne pasta
As I mention above sagne (pronounced sahn-yeh) are thick pasta rectangles. They are about 2-inches (5 cm) in length by 1/4-1/3-inch (1/2-1 cm) wide. The size varies from cook to cook, and you can choose what you prefer. (Take a look at the varying sizes in my photos!) As for thickness, they are rolled out rather thickly at 2-3 mm. This is a rustic shape and doesn’t need to be super delicate. Besides using them for Sagne e Ceci, they would work for any pasta and bean soup, plus I think they’d be fabulous in a vegetable minestrone. Sagne are also vegan. You may also hear them called sagnette if they are smaller.
Sagne e Ceci the recipe
I hope you enjoy the recipe. If you are interested in other soups, please take a look at my recipes for Italian Lentil Soup, Tortellini in Brodo, Pasta e Patate con la Provola, Zucchini Soup with Cannellini Beans, Potato & Ditalini, and lastly, Italian Meat Broth.
Enjoy! Buon appetito.
1. Rinse the chickpeas in a colander and soak them in a large bowl, covered abundantly in water for a minimum of 8 hours, preferably overnight. Rinse and drain. 2. Stockpot method: Place the chickpeas in a large stockpot and cover with 2 1/2 liters/quarts of water. Add 1 garlic clove with the skin on, 1 sprig of rosemary, and 1 bay leaf. Bring to a simmer and skim off any scum that rises to the top. Simmer over very low heat until the chickpeas are tender. If you find that your water is getting low, add boiling water as necessary. The time will vary depending on how old the beans are and how long they've soaked. Expect them to take about an hour but it could take longer. Season them with salt halfway through the cooking time. 2. Pressure cooker method: Cover the beans with 2 liters/quarts of water, add 1 clove of garlic with its skin, 1 sprig of rosemary, and 1 bay leaf. Bring up to pressure, lower the heat, and cook for 20 minutes. There is no need to skim anything. Once the pressure comes down, taste a bean to see if they are ready. If they are not tender after that time, cook for 5 minutes more under pressure and check them again. Repeat this process until they are ready, then season with salt. 3. Once the beans are tender, turn off the heat and set them aside. Remove the aromatics. The beans can be cooked a day or two in advance and stored in the refrigerator with all of the bean liquid. 4. Prepare the pasta dough. Place the flour on a clean work surface and form a well in the center by creating a circular wall of flour with a wide enough space in the center to hold the water comfortably. Add the water little by little into the well and start adding the flour to the water bit by bit in a circular motion from the surrounding wall of flour to create a smooth dough that is moist, yet firm and not sticky. Once you’ve incorporated all of the flour into the water (you may need to adjust the flour and water as needed to ensure that the dough isn't too sticky or dry), gently knead the dough until it’s very smooth, pliable, and doesn’t stick to your hands. It should take about 10 minutes. Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and let it rest for at least 30 minutes or up to an hour. Once the dough has rested, roll it out by machine or by hand with a rolling pin until it's 2-3 mm thick. Cover the pasta with some flour to prevent sticking, then cut the pasta into rectangles 2-inches (5 cm) long by 1/4-1/3-inch (1/2-1 cm) wide. Toss the sagne with flour to prevent them from sticking and set aside. (To make quick work of this, cut your sheets of pasta into 2" (5cm) strips, dust lightly with flour, and stack the strips. This way, you can cut several rectangles at once.) 5. Set a stockpot over low heat. Add the extra virgin olive oil and the remaining garlic that you have smashed and peeled. If the garlic contains a green shoot, remove it. Cook the garlic slowly over low heat until tender and very lightly browned. Gently press down on the cloves to release their flavor. Next, add the 2 rosemary sprigs and the remaining bay leaf. Cook, stirring for a couple of minutes until fragrant. 6. Scoop out the chickpeas from the bean water (keeping the bean water) and place them in the pot with the aromatics. Season with salt and gently stir for a few minutes to combine the flavors. Add enough bean water to taste. If you want a soupy consistency, add all of it, if you like it thick, add less. 7. Simmer for 15 minutes to combine all of the flavors. Taste for seasoning. Turn off the heat and set aside until you are ready to boil your pasta. Remove the aromatics. 8. Meanwhile, bring a small pot of water to the boil for the pasta. Once it comes to a boil, add enough salt to make it taste like seawater. 9. Once you are ready to boil the pasta, bring your soup back to a simmer. Add the sagne to the pasta water and cook it until it floats to the top, this should take under 30 seconds. Cooking the pasta in the water will keep the excess flour from going into your soup. 10. When the pasta floats to the top, scoop it out and place it in the soup. Simmer together for 1-2 more minutes until the pasta is fully cooked. Serve with a fresh drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. If you like spice, add some chili oil. You may use 00, 0, unbleached all-purpose flour (soft wheat/grano tenero), or durum wheat flour (grano duro) in the recipe. Some people do half and half of each kind.
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
2 comments
Doesn’t this look delicious! I adore pasta and chickpeas in all its many forms. Sounds to me a lot like “lampe e tuone” from Campania, which I love.
Hi Frank! Thanks again for reading. I have never heard of their version in dialect! How cool. It does look very similar as it’s “in bianco” and very simply seasoned. I also adore all versions of pasta with chickpeas. Before this version, I always made it “in rosso” with anchovy, parsley, garlic, and chili, so it was a little more seasoned. They are both great. I love the Pugliese Ciceria e Tria which is so scrumptious. One could write a whole book on pasta and bean soups!