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corzetti al pesto di ceci con melanzane e bacon

corzetti with chickpea pesto, melanzane and bacon

One of the slightly longer pesto recipes, and another one that uses a pesto as a base for other condiments. Here I’ve used smoked bacon and melanzane. Corzetti are a really old type of pasta and eat quite differently from other short shapes. They’re similar to orecchiette and in fact some food historians maintain that the corzetto (which originally had more of a hollowing out in it) is the predecessor of the orecchietta, travelling from Liguria to Puglia and Calabria as early as the 12th or 13th centuries.


Early corzetti were dragged, not stamped, as they are today. In the south of Italy, the theory goes, corzetti evolved into small, thicker discs with deeper indentations, whereas the Ligurian variations became thinner and only slightly curved. Today they are now almost completely flat, like communion wafers. In the UK they’re not mainstream pasta shape and you’ll need to hunt them down at specialist Italian delicatessens.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO DO
(scroll down for the full method)

  • prepare the ingredients

  • peel the garlic

  • grate the cheese

  • make a chick pea pesto

  • chop the melanzane

  • fry the melanzane

  • fry the bacon

  • boil the pasta

  • combine the pesto and pasta

  • add the melanzane and bacon

corzetti with chickpea pesto, melanzane and bacon

INGREDIENTS

FOR FOUR PEOPLE

  • half a can chick peas

  • half a dozen sun-dried tomatoes

  • pinoli

  • pecorino

  • garlic

  • EVO

  • 2 small melanzane

  • 6 rashers thick cut smoked bacon

  • a handful of basil leaves


PASTA

500g (17.5 oz) dry corzetti


MANTECATURA (?)

none, simply combine using pasta water

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METHOD

Start by making a pesto with chick peas - just add all the ingredients, one by one, to taste, in a blender, until you’re happy with the balance of flavours (chick peas drained from a can, garlic, pinoli, parmesan or pecorino, EVO and half a dozen sundried tomatoes, in oil).

Cut two small melanzane into cubes about 1cm square and fry in EVO until cooked and slightly golden. Dry fry your bacon rashers and then remove the rind and tear or cut into strips or small pieces. Follow the tips for Cooking with Pesto in the Technique section. Add the melanzane, toss to combine. Finally, add the bacon and toss. Serve immediately with torn basil leaves, black or cayenne pepper and pecorino or parmesan.

NUTRITION per serving

  • KCAL: we're working on it!

  • Fat (g): TBC

  • Sat Fat (g): TBC

  • Carb (g): TBC

  • Sug (g): TBC

  • Fibre(g): TBC

  • Prot (g): TBC

  • Salt (g): TBC

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