This albesi soup with chickpea cream is extremely good ! I tasted it in Italy, and I loved it because it’s unusual, creamy and fragrant. It’s an original veggie meal and so easy to make.

This recipe is made with albesi (also called tagliolini or tajarin or taglierini), a kind of tagliatelle but thiner, cooked in a chickpea cream with rosemary and sage fragrances. It is to die for !

Prep : 15 minutes

Cooking : 10 minutes

Makes 2 main courses :

• 5.3 oz albesi or tagliolini or tajarin or taglierini
• 3 cups canned chickpeas
• 2 cloves garlic
• 3 leaves sage
• 1 stick rosemary
• 1 pinch of dried chili
• 1 tbsp tomato paste

Strain the chickpeas, then peel them off.

To peel the chickpeas, pinch them with two fingers to remove the hard skin. This step is optional but the chickpeas are more digestible without skin, and the cream will be smoother.

Peel the garlic, cut the cloves in two and remove the sprout.

Dilute a tbsp of tomato paste with 3 tbsp of water, then add dried chili.

Heat up in a saucepan 2 tbsp of olive oil. Add garlic, rosemary and sage. Heat up for few seconds to enhance the fragrances.

Add the water-chili-and-tomato mixture, and leave to simmer over medium heat.

Cream 2/3 of chickpeas with a blender and a cup of water.

Mash roughly the rest of chickpeas with a fork.

Remove garlic and herbs from the saucepan.

Add the chickpeas and 2 1/2 cup water. Salt and pepper, then bring to a boil.

Pour in the albesi and cook for around 10 minutes.

Serve in soup plates.