Hello! Easy healthy recipe for your New Year’s resolution to eat better and cook more. I made this on a night Mark was working and I could eat whatever I wanted, which usually results in Indian food, something with mushrooms, or something spicy. Or soup, because the man just does not consider soup a meal, even if it’s hearty and homemade. Well, except for this one.
Pesto Linguine with Crispy Balsamic Chickpeas
INGREDIENTS
- 1 15 oz. can chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans), rinsed, drained and patted dry
- 1 pound linguine (can be gluten-free, brown rice, etc. if desired)
- About 1/2 cup prepared (or jarred) pesto, quantity to your preference
- 2 TBSP balsamic vinegar
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- olive oil, about 2 TBSP
- salt and pepper to taste
- parmesan cheese, shaved or grated, for the top
- optional: a dash of light cream to make more decadent
DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 400F and set a large pot of water to boil. If you are making pesto fresh, be sure to do this ahead of time and set aside.
In a large cast iron skillet or Dutch oven (you know the kind I like), heat olive oil over medium. Any large pan is fine, as long as it’s oven-proof.
Add beans and garlic and cook, adding salt and pepper to taste. Toss well to make sure beans get coated well with seasonings.
Transfer to the oven and bake until beans are browned and crispy, roughly 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, once water boils, cook the pasta until al dente. Once fully cooked, about 10 minutes, drain and return to the pot, off the heat. Toss with preferred amount of pesto until coated.
Remove chickpeas from oven and pour in balsamic; stir until chickpeas are well coated and the vinegar has thickened slightly.
Optional: add dash of light cream to the linguine for a creamier sauce.
Serve one of two ways — combine the balsamic chickpeas with linguine and toss, or plate the pasta and top with the chickpeas. Grate fresh parmesan cheese over the top and enjoy!
I got three lunches out of this, and it was very tasty reheated. I just love the crunch of the chickpeas against the sweet-tangy balsamic sauce, and the satisfyingly filling pasta! It makes me feel like I’m indulging more than I am, and if you omit the light cream, it’s even healthier. Sometimes it’s good to have a more luxurious version of your everyday recipes in your back pocket, so I like to test recipes both ways. In fact, Mark helped me do just that for our go-to spaghetti carbonara, and I’ll be blogging about version 2.0 of that recipe soon.
I really hope you enjoy this. You might also like this Mulitgrain Spaghetti with Spinach and Chickpeas, or my Harvest Vegetable Pasta. It’s been a while since I made both of those, so I think it’s time to add them back into the rotation! I hope you have a nice long weekend. Stay warm:)
This recipe was inspired by TheLiveInKitchen.
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