Pasta e Cece

There's really no place quite like NYC during the holidays. With Christmas trees lined up for sale at every corner, tree lightings almost every night, actual carolers and elaborately decorated brownstones, you can't help but feel the spirit. This weekend, we made it a point to see some of the city's beautifully lit trees. You can go crazy running around trying to view all of them so we stuck to the ones in our neighborhood at The Met, Central Park, Carl Schurz and Park Avenue. (Spoiler: The Met wins, as expected). But it was such a rainy, cold day that we came home with a serious chill to our bones. It was the kind of moment soups were made for, which was the obvious choice - but we came across this interesting recipe calling for pasta and chickpeas, both of which we conveniently had in stock. It's advertised as more of a stew with pasta in it than a simple pasta dish. This sounded perfect and we ended up loving it so much that after we finished, vowed to make it every winter for the rest of our lives (yes, it was as intense as it sounds).

Newlywed Note

This cooks and tastes like an Italian peasant dish, which only made us love it even more being huge fans of that style. It's not a difficult recipe, especially when you use pre-made pasta. The sauce/broth will literally soothe all of your insides. The red pepper flakes definitely pack a punch - go with less than the recipe suggests if you don't like spicy foods. This comforting pasta dish is guaranteed to become your new winter staple.

Served in pasta bowls with Chianti wine from Italy and freshly grated Pecorino.