Chickpea Pasta with Roasted Fennel, Carrots, and Corn

This Sunday at the Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market, held between 10 am - 2 pm on the corner of Agate and 19th Ave., you'll find bountiful summer produce from Camas Swale Farm and pastured meat and poultry from Fair Valley Farm and Fog Hollow Farm.

This past week we had a work potluck picnic. I took inspiration from the Camas Swale farm stand and decided to combine roasted corn and fennel into a pasta dish for a crowd that could be eaten warm or at room temperature.

One of my favorite pasta dishes is with chickpeas, so I riffed on this (as I did last year), cooking the pasta in the chickpea broth for extra flavor. This version, with caramelized fennel and shallots for sweetness and feta cheese for a salty kick, was especially delicious.

Chickpea Pasta with Roasted Fennel, Carrots, and Corn

serves a crowd (about 12)

1 pound dried chickpeas
2 garlic cloves
bay leaf
1 pound small pasta such as shells
1 lemon
2 ears corn
1 fennel bulb 
2 large shallots or small onions
6 carrots
olive oil
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
aleppo pepper to taste
3 ounces feta cheese, diced
fennel fronds and basil leaves for garnish

1. Cook the chickpeas. I've been cooking mine in a pressure cooker, but you can also do it on the stove top. Soak the chickpeas overnight in the pressure cooker insert pot in 6 cups water and 2 tsp Kosher salt. The next day, add 2 cloves of garlic peeled and sliced, 1 bay leaf, and a drizzle of olive oil. Cook on high pressure for 20 minutes, allowing the pressure to release naturally when done. If you haven't presoaked the chickpeas, cook on high pressure for 45 minutes and test if they are done (this time mine needed to go another 5 minutes). Place a strainer over a large bowl and drain the chickpeas, collecting the broth (you should have about 4 cups). Discard the bay leaf. Reserve 3 cups of cooked chickpeas for this dish and save the rest for other uses. 

2. Cook the pasta in the reserved chickpea broth. I do this in a pressure cooker as well. Taste the broth and add more salt if needed and add more water if needed to achieve a volume of 4 cups. Add the pasta to the pressure cooker insert pot and pour in the broth. Cook on high pressure for 5 minutes. When the cooking is complete, hit cancel and carefully release the pressure. Remove the lid and stir the pasta into the remaining broth. Cover and allow the pasta to completely absorb the broth for about 5 minutes. Zest and juice the lemon and stir both the zest and juice into the pasta.

3. Meanwhile, set the oven to 450 degrees and start roasting the pasta components. On a sheet pan, combine the 3 cups drained chickpeas with 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1/2 tsp fennel seeds, salt, aleppo pepper, and a generous drizzle of olive oil. Mix to coat and roast the chickpeas until the become golden brown and crispy, about 20 minutes. Mix the roasted chickpeas in with the pasta.

4. Shuck the ears of corn and place them in a cast iron skillet in the oven. Roast, rotating, until they become slightly charred in places. Remove to a cutting board to cool and then cut the kernels from the ears and reserve. 

5. Thinly slice the fennel bulb and shallots. Toss with olive oil and salt on a sheet pan and roast, stirring occasionally, until they start to brown, about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and toss with the corn kernels.

6. Slice the carrots on the diagonal into ovals. On the chickpea sheet, toss the carrots with the remaining cumin and fennel seeds, salt, aleppo pepper, and olive oil. Roast, flipping occasionally until soft and browned at the edges, about 10 minutes. Combine with the roasted fennel, shallots, and corn.

7. To serve, spread the pasta and chickpeas on a large serving platter. Layer over the roasted vegetables and all of their flavored olive oil. Top with diced feta cheese and garnish with torn fennel fronds and basil leaves. Serve warm or at room temperature.