Lemony Pasta With Chickpeas and Parsley

By Melissa Clark

Updated Aug. 18, 2025

Lemony Pasta With Chickpeas and Parsley
Rachel Vanni for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
Total Time
30 minutes
Rating
5(4,723)
Comments
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You can used either canned or home-cooked chickpeas in this take on the classic Italian dish pasta con ceci, which is an excellent, nutritious, quick-cooking dinner. But even more appealing is the way the soft earthiness of the chickpeas plays off the al dente pasta, coating it like a rich sauce but without a lot of fat. The whole dish is zipped up with some lemon, garlic and red pepper flakes.

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Ingredients

Yield:2 servings
  • Kosher salt, as needed
  • 8ounces regular or whole-wheat fusilli or other short, sturdy pasta
  • 2cups cooked chickpeas, home-cooked or canned
  • ¼cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
  • 2garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
  • ½onion, diced
  • 1tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
  • Pinch of red pepper flakes, plus more as needed
  • 1½cups chickpea cooking liquid (from a homemade pot; do not use the liquid from the can), vegetable stock or water
  • 3cups fresh parsley leaves (from 1 large bunch)
  • ⅔cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus more for serving
  • 1tablespoon unsalted butter
  • Finely grated zest of ½ lemon
  • Ground black pepper to taste
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (2 servings)

1284 calories; 52 grams fat; 16 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 27 grams monounsaturated fat; 6 grams polyunsaturated fat; 153 grams carbohydrates; 24 grams dietary fiber; 14 grams sugars; 53 grams protein; 1342 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Add fusilli and cook until it is just shy of al dente. (It should be slightly underdone to your taste because you’ll finish cooking it in the sauce.) Drain well.

  2. Step 2

    While the pasta is cooking, prepare the chickpea sauce: Place chickpeas in a large bowl and use a potato masher or a fork to lightly mash them; they should be about half-crushed.

  3. Step 3

    Heat oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Add garlic cloves and fry until they are golden brown, about 2 minutes. Stir in onions, rosemary, red pepper flakes and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft, about 10 minutes. Then stir in chickpeas and the cooking liquid, stock or water. Bring to a simmer and cook gently until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes.

  4. Step 4

    Stir in pasta and parsley, and cook until the pasta has finished cooking and is coated in the sauce, 1 to 2 minutes. Quickly toss in cheese, butter, lemon zest, black pepper to taste and salt if needed. Drizzle with olive oil and shower with additional cheese before serving.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
4,723 user ratings
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Comments

Barbara from Ottawa

I found this a bit bland until I doubled the amount of lemon zest and then added the juice of the entire lemon and a bit of freshly ground salt. That brightened it up considerably. Get your prep done before you cook the pasta, and it all comes together very nicely.

Jude

Melissa, don't throw out the pasta water!!! That should be the liquid that thins out the chickpea mash if you are using canned chickpeas, which is what most people who want a "quick cooking dinner" will use.

Jen

I make this recipe all the time, with the added difference of adding an anchovy when sautéing the onions. It is delicious, wonderful and one of my favourite "comfort foods".

Bree

Love! Made with rotini, a shallot instead of onion, and some dairy-free substitutions - FYH Parmesan shreds, Violife butter, and some nutritional yeast for a bit of help on the cheesy front. Technique tips: two to three pulses in a food processor gets the chickpeas to the half mash state described in recipe. 3 cups of loosely packed intact parsley translates to about 1-1.5 cups chopped, depending on how finely, which is a way more reasonable visual for this amount of pasta but puts lots of green into each bite. SALT is what helps the flavor lift up, and after zesting the lemon, I used half of its juice in the simmering liquid added with the chickpeas, and the other half for us to finish to taste. So lucky we had exactly 2 cups of chickpeas plus the cooking liquid leftover to use for this, it came together easily and packed a big flavor punch. Next time I’ll fry some capers into the sauce too.

Philly Mama

Agreed that it’s bland as written. Here’s my fix: cook garlic until it’s deeply browned and onion until browned. Chop parsley finely. Add extra red pepper to taste. Use only 1/4 cup Parmesan and cut out the butter. Double lemon zest and add lemon juice to pasta as others have suggested. Serve with a squeeze of lemon and a squirt of olive oil plus fresh pepper; pass Parmesan at the table. With those modifications, it’s delicious.

Meredith

We love this dish! My partner went to culinary school and it's one of his favorite dishes that I make from NYT Cooking. I like it with a little extra lemon zest and the full amount of parsley. Delish! And the only recipe I've made from here that takes as little time as they say it will! :)

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Credits

Adapted from "Dinner: Changing the Game" by Melissa Clark (Clarkson Potter, 2017)

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