Quarantine is an interesting time and it’s quite boring so I feel pretty lucky on that end. Working from home and being able to finish some half-done crafts is exciting but it’s crazy to think about how long this could continue. I’m super grateful for Bon Appetit youtube content and seeing all my favorite chefs at home making things happen. Recently they released a video where everyone made pasta using basic pantry items they had at home and I was pretty excited when Claire made a sauce using chickpeas and garlic. It was super simple and I’d never seen anything like it before so I knew I wanted to try it and I’m all over chickpeas right now so I was extra excited.

Claire cooked pasta, and while that was going, pan-fried a can of chickpeas on a little olive oil with garlic. Once they got crispy she took out about 1/3 of the chickpeas to top the pasta with later. I, of course, got a little excited and forgot to take some out until after I deglazed the pan so my crispy chickpeas became a little soggy… a little sad but not a huge deal. Claire also deglazed her pan with a dry white wine but I didn’t have any here so I used chicken stock as a substitute which worked out fine. I mashed the chickpeas in the pan, added a little pasta sauce and seasoned the sauce with red pepper flakes and a little salt. I tossed the pasta and seasoned a little more to taste.

My sauce seized up a little and wasn’t as liquid as I would’ve liked in the end but it tasted great. I topped with my slightly soggy chickpeas and it was ready to go. I’m totally going to do this again. It was so simple and easy to make and used very staple ingredients that I usually always have. I’m so happy to keep learning about these new techniques and uses for basic ingredients and I’m glad I’m still able to keep things interesting and new during this social distancing.