Someone brought home some fresh garbanzos yesterday,
and I browsed around for ideas on what to do with them.
This started from a recipe for shell bean "ragout" in
the Chez Panisse _Vegetables_ cookbook, which is sort
of buried in the middle of it. It sort of grew from there...
Squid & Fresh Garbanzo Pasta
Serves: 4
Amount Ingredient
------ ----------
1/2 pound fresh chickpeas/garbanzos (about 1 cup, shelled)
(other shell beans OK, dried/canned garbanzos
could also be used, with different effect...)
1/2 pound squid (tubes, or tubes and tentacles; I like the
tentacles, but YMMV). Smaller squid preferable.
1/2 pound pasta (spaghetti, linginue, or fettucine)
1 ounce prosciutto, finely diced (more or less than 1 oz.
is OK; pancetta could also be used here).
4-6 medium shallots, diced (somewhere over 1/2 cup total)
4 cloves garlic (medium-sized cloves; don't hesitate to
use more if you like garlic.)
2 medium tomatoes, diced (quarter them, cut out the pulpy,
seedy core, dice the dense meat. About 1 cup.)
1 medium red or yellow bell pepper.
1 or more serrano chili pepper, minced (optional; to taste)
4 leaves fresh sage, chopped fine
or
1 tsp. fresh rosemary leaves, chopped fine
6-8 Tbs flat-leaf parsley, chopped fine (cilantro would
be any interesting substitution for this...)
2 thick slices good white bread (day old/getting stale is fine)
1 lemon juiced
8 Tbsp. oil (EVOO, or that plus more neutral olive/canola/
peanut/grapeseed/etc. oil)
Pre-heat oven to 350. Slice off the crust of the bread, cube the
remainder and process to crumbs in a food processor; you'll need
about 1 cup of crumbs. Spread the crumbs on a baking sheet and
toast to a light brown (about 15 minutes). Toss with about 1 Tbsp.
EVOO and half of the chopped parsley.
Meanwhile, shell the chickpeas, cover with 1 inch of water in a
small saucepan, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer
and add 2 Tbsp. oil and a big pinch of salt. Simmer for 25 minutes.
Sweat half the shallots along with the diced prosciutto in 2 Tbsp.
oil for about 5 minutes until the shallot is translucent; add the
minced chili pepper (if using; for less heat, remove the seeds and
white stuff before mincing), the sage (or rosemary) and half the
garlic, and continue to cook over medium-low heat for another minute
or two. Add half the diced tomato, continue to cook over medium
heat for about 5 minutes more.
Combine the beans (and their cooking liquid) with the onion mix
in an ovenproof dish, and bake for 45 minutes, adding water (or
chicken stock) if the dish starts to dry out.
Slice squid tubes in 1/2 inch slices (be sure the tubes have been
cleaned of any internal gunk, first). If using tentacles, divide
each critter's bunch into manageable portions (e.g. split small
squids into 2 or 4 tentacle pieces lengthwise; if tentacles are
long, cut these in half across their length). Salt and pepper the
squid pieces and soak in the lemon juice while the beans are
cooking.
Cook the pasta in 3-4 quarts of boiling, salted water (about 12
minutes for typical dried pasta). When _al dente_, drain and toss
with 1 Tbsp. EVOO and then with about half the bread-crumb mix.
Sweat the remaining shallots with 2 Tbsp. oil, till translucent;
add the garlic, remaining tomato, bell pepper and parsley and
cook over medium heat for 5 minutes. Drain the squid from its
marination. When the beans have finished, add them to the shallot/
garlic/tomato/pepper/parsley and simmer for a minute or two to
blend flavors. Add the drained squid and simmer for 3-5 minutes
(keep this short or the squid will get tough; just cook until the
squid is opaque and firm). Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Add some balsamic vinegar if you like.
Toss the squid and veggies with the pasta; serve with the rest of
the toasted bread crumb and parsley mix. Bread and salad on the
side are nice.