A simple pasta dish with fantastic flavours. It looks veggie but actually contains anchovies and chicken stock. If you’re not bothered by those it’s a definite winner!
Conchiglie with chickpeas and za’atar – serves 4
- 3 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to serve
- a small onion, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 10g thyme leaves, finely chopped
- 25g anchovy fillets in oil, drained and chopped
- 1 lemon, finely shave off a piece of the skin of half, then squeeze to get 2 tbsp of juice
- 2 x 400g tins chickpeas, drained
- 1 tsp soft brown sugar
- 400ml chicken stock
- 200g conchiglie pasta (or gigli or orecchiette)
- 50g baby spinach
- 15g parsley, roughly chopped
- 1 ½ tsp za’atar
Heat the oil in a large sauté pan until hot, then add the onion, garlic, cumin, thyme, anchovies, lemon skin, ½ tsp of salt and plenty of black pepper. Fry for 3-4 minutes, stirring, until soft and golden.
Reduce the heat to medium-high and add the chickpeas and sugar. Fry for 8 minutes, stirring now and then, until the chickpeas start to brown and turn crispy. Add the chicken stock and lemon juice and simmer for 6 minutes, or until the sauce has slightly reduced. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Bring a large pan of salty water to the boil and cook the pasta according to the timings on the pack, then drain.
Stir the spinach and parsley into the chickpeas, if it doesn’t wilt you can warm the chickpeas through again gently. Add the pasta to the pan of chickpeas and stir to combine. Divide between bowls, then sprinkle with the za’atar and drizzle with olive oil.
(Original recipe from Ottolenghi Simple by Yotam Ottolenghi with Tara Wigley and Esme Howarth, Ebury Press, 2018.)
Jono & Jules do food & wine 
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