Broccoli Chickpea Baked Pasta September 15, 2010

I got home late last night and raided the fridge and cupboards to try to quickly pull together a relatively healthy meal.  I kept adding ingredients as I went along, but the resulting dinner ended up tasting (to me) so good that I want to share it, even though it was just a “pull everything out and throw it in a dish” meal.  I started with pasta and sauce, added some chopped broccoli when I thought of it, decided I needed protein and opened a can of chickpeas, decided the whole thing would be better with cheese, then realized the cheese would be best melted and broiled, and then thought “Spices!! I forgot spices!!” and dumped a bunch of those in.   It looks like a mess but was really, really good when all was said & done, and I know I’ll be making this again in the future.

Broccoli Chickpea Baked Pasta
(serves 3-4)

Ingredients:
8 oz dried pasta
1 cup chopped broccoli
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 cups pasta sauce
1 large tomato, chopped
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Sprinkling of parmesan cheese
1/2 cup bread crumbs
Spices: I used a heaping tablespoon of my Jamaican allspice blend, but this could be substituted with a mix of garlic powder, dried red pepper, thyme, paprika, and S&P

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 400.  While the oven is pre-heating, bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add the pasta, and when the pasta is almost done, add the chopped broccoli for the remaining minute or two.

Drain the pasta and broccoli, and put it back in the pot. Add the chickpeas, chopped tomato, pasta sauce, and spices to the pot and stir it all together.

Pour the mix into a medium sized casserole dish.  Sprinkle with mozzarella, bread crumbs, and parmesan cheese.  Bake at 400 for about 15 minutes, or until cheese is melted.  You can finish it under the broiler for a minute or two if you like your cheese browned & bubbly.  Then eat.