Marinated Vegetables and Pasta with Roasted Chickpeas
I came upon this recipe in one of my Fine Cooking magazines a couple of years ago and fell in love with it! This is the recipe where I first discovered roasted chickpeas which are now a family fav to snack on while I am cooking dinner. I love this pasta recipe because of its beautiful colors, textures and bright fresh flavor. And, you guessed it, this is great leftover too! As with many of my recipes, feel free to change it up with your favorite veggies. Asparagus would be delicious here as well as some fresh dill.
Happy Cooking!!!
Ingredients:
For the roasted chickpeas:
1 15.5 oz. can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 Tablespoon olive oil
½ teaspoon salt and pepper
For the pasta and vegetables:
2 cups sugar snap peas
1 ⅓ cups chopped red peppers (you may also use yellow and orange peppers for extra color)
1 ¼ cup grape or cherry tomatoes halved
1 cup feta cheese diced
3 Tablespoons white balsamic vinegar (may substitute white wine vinegar or rice wine vinegar)
2 teaspoons garlic powder
½ teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (may substitute ¼ teaspoon dried thyme leaves)
¼ teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
Peel of one lemon
10 oz. bite sized pasta (curly or ribbon shaped pastas are my fav)
¼ cup sliced green onions
For the chickpeas:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Place the chickpeas on a parchment lined cookie sheet and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper.
Roast until golden brown and crispy, approximately 30-35 minutes. Shake the pan halfway through baking time.
For the Pasta and Veggies:
Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil.
Blanch the sugar snap peas until they are bright green and tender, about 1-2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the peas from the boiling water and place into a colander and run under cold water to stop the cooking process.
Do not pour out the water, as you will use it to boil your pasta according to the package instructions.
Cut the sugar snap peas on a diagonal into 1 inch pieces.
Place the sugar snap peas, peppers, tomatoes and feta cheese into a large bowl and toss with the vinegar, garlic, thyme, sugar, red pepper flakes, 1 teaspoon of salt and ½ teaspoon of pepper.
Drizzle in ¼ cup of olive oil then add the lemon peel and marinate the veggies for 40 minutes, tossing occasionally, or cover and refrigerate for about 1 hour.
Boil your pasta according to the package directions, drain and return cooked pasta to the dry pot.
Remove the lemon peels from the veggie mixture then toss the marinated vegetables into the pasta and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Enjoy warm or at room temperature and top with roasted chickpeas and green onions.
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