Summer Vegetable Pasta with Chickpeas

While some of my recipes stem from wonderful restaurant dishes, others are created out of disappointment. Take for example this vegetable pasta dish. I had gone to a favorite restaurant of mine, ordered their seasonal veg-friendly pasta, and received one of the most disappointing meals I've had in some time. The ratio of pasta to vegetables sat somewhere around 10:1 and there was no sauce. None. I'm not one for overly sauce pasta but this took that to an extreme.

And so, I set out to right that pasta dish with an easy summer recipe. I love tossing all the summer vegetables into a pan- it's hard to mess it up. Add to that a few chickpeas and enough cream/veg-friendly parmesan and you have yourself a meal. Use what you have on hand, swap the pasta for grains, or toss in some homemade pesto: everything is fair-game in this vegetable pasta!

Summer Vegetable Pasta with Chickpeas

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A hearty summer pasta that uses chickpeas to bulk up the recipe and a bit of heavy cream and parmesan to create a simple sauce.

• Author: Erin Alderson
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 25 minutes
• Total Time: 35 minutes
• Yield: 3 to 4 servings 1x
• Cuisine: dinner

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• ½ medium yellow onion
• 1 small to medium zucchini
• 5 to 6 small sweet peppers
• 1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes
• 4 ounces pasta
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup cooked chickpeas (drained and rinsed if using canned)
• ¼ cup lightly packed basil, julienned
• ¼ cup heavy cream
• ½ cup lightly packed parmesan
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

• Prepare the vegetables: dice the onion and zucchini into similar sized pieces and slice the smaller peppers into rings. Slice the tomatoes in half. Start the pasta cooking and cook until al dente.
• Heat a large, high-sided skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil, followed by the vegetables. Saute until the vegetables are tender and browning, stirring occasionally; 8 to 10 minutes. Add in the chickpeas and basil, cooking and stirring until the chickpeas are warm.
• Add in the pasta as well as the heavy cream, parmesan, salt and pepper. Stir to coat the noodles and melt the parmesan. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired.

Notes

Tips & Tricks: You could use smaller pasta, like the penne I used, or you could make this dish with a longer noodle, like spaghetti. 

Stock up: get the pantry ingredients you will need: zucchini, tomatoes, peppers

Nutrition:  see the information.

Nutrition

• Calories: 362
• Sugar: 10.5
• Sodium: 431
• Fat: 14.6
• Saturated Fat: 6.5
• Carbohydrates: 44.1
• Fiber: 7.5
• Protein: 14.9
• Cholesterol: 30

Explore Chickpeas

Chickpeas are always in my pantry. They make a quick meal, like these turmeric chickpeas, but can also serve as a great dip, deli sandwich, or addition to soup. They are versatile and a power boost to any meal.

Buffalo Chickpea Salad with Homemade Ranch
Chickpea Shawarma Stuffed Pita
Turmeric Chickpeas