If Tuscans are known as mangiafagioli (bean-eaters), then perhaps the Romans should be called mangiacecione for their love of the ceci bean.
In Lazio (the regon of which Rome is the capital), pasta e ceci has been around for centuries, one of the fundamentals of cucina povera, food of the poor. This combination of the plentiful ceci beans and pasta, sometimes with the addition of a few tomatoes, maybe a touch of meat, and a few herbs, was throughout history the mainstay of the impoverished masses.
Today this dish of humble beginnings has been elevated to super-star status in modern Roman cuisine. Its many permutations can be found on menus in five-star hotels with celebrity chefs as well as in rustic, bare-bones trattorias, run by la famiglia.
Romans love this hearty soup so much that even in hot weather they figured out a way to keep in on the menu—pasta e ceci freddo—that is, cold pasta e ceci. Oh, don’t go, “Ugh!” They do something to it—I don’t know what—to make every room temperature slurp as sublimely satisfying as its hotter version.
In my time, I’ve consumed mega-gallon tanks of pasta e ceci in Rome, always comparing one to the other, always searching for the best. There’s no such thing. The bowl in front of me is always the winner.
For authenticity and because I’ve loved everything prepared by either Oretta or Maureen, I bring you the recipe from The Food of Rome and Lazio by Oretta Zanini De Vita, edited by Maureen Fant, and further messed with and annotated by me.
