Pasta e Ceci

Jamie's Pasta e Ceci (aka pasta and chickpea soup) was a success. It was very easy and very tasty. First I sauteed garlic, olive oil, chopped onion and celery in a stock pot with one branch of fresh rosemary. Jamie's directions are to cook this very gently for about 15-20 minutes or until the onions and celery are translucent. Once this happens, add two cans of chick peas (thoroughly rinsed and drained) and then cover with chicken stock (I found one small box worked). Simmer for a half an hour (I also added a bit of balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper and oregano at this time). Once your half hour is up, take about half of the chick peas out of the soup and reserve on the side. Puree the remaining soup-- remember to remove the rosemary branch!-- (Jamie recommends using an emersion blender, but I just used a regular blender and then returned the pureed soup to the pot). Once you have your pureed soup in the stock pot again, add back in your reserved chick peas and add in soup pasta (ditalini would work, I used mini shells). Simmer until the remaining chick peas and the pasta is tender. You may need to add a bit of water to the soup if it gets too thick. I also grated some parmesan directly into the soup (as well as serving the soup with grated parm on top). It was very easy and quite a tasty soup-- the rosemary and parmesan worked together nicely. I'd recommend serving this with a good crusty bread.

As for the tiramisu. It's best if we don't discuss it.

Tonight, Pasta al la Norma!