Fresh out of Fucks Pasta

This pasta is extremely flavourful, tasty enough that you’ll forget about your woes while you’re eating it. It’s extremely easy, fast enough that you can make it without really thinking. And it’s full of fibre and protein from chickpeas, so you’ll feel good about it, but with enough butter and parmesan you might still feel bad about it. Less self shame, more balance.

You can call this crispy chickpea and prosciutto pasta, or pantry pasta, but I’m going to call it fresh out of fucks pasta. Because that is when I make it.

Ingredients

Makes 2 portions

Crispy chickpeas & prosciutto

• 1 can of chickpeas

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 2 tsp sweet paprika (hot or smoked paprika work great too)

• 1 tbsp garlic powder (not garlic salt! not fresh garlic! (it will burn!))

• 1 tsp salt

• Freshly ground black pepper

• Optional chili flakes for heat

• 3–4 pieces of prosciutto per person

Pasta assembly

• 350g dried pasta – I’ve made this with whatever is in my pantry, pasta boxes range from 350–650g, so use around 125g per person.

• 100g Parmesan cheese (grate your own! 50g per person)

• 2 tbsp butter (1 tbsp per person)

• 1/2 cup pasta water (eyeball it)

• Salt

• Pepper

Notes:

You can leave the crispy prosciutto out of the pasta, or swap prosciutto with another kind of deli meat (fatty salamis get crispy, lean meats will not).

Method

Make the crispy chickpeas:

Pre-heat your oven to 425°F (400°F convection).

Drain the chickpeas and add them to a medium bowl. Add the olive oil, paprika, garlic powder, salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Use a spoon to toss everything to combine and pour onto a baking sheet.

Bake for 25–30 minutes until browned and crispy. Shake the baking sheet halfway through.

Add the prosciutto to the chickpeas:

Fold/drape each piece of prosciutto into a little mound. This will help it get crispy edges and be warm/melty inside.

Add to the same baking sheet the chickpeas are on when there is 10 minutes left in baking time.

Boil the pasta and assemble:

While the chickpeas are baking, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Heavily salt the water. Cook your pasta per the directions on the box, ideally timing it to finish with the chickpeas and prosciutto.

Before draining the pasta, dip a mug into the starchy pasta water and reserve it to help make the sauce.

Drain the pasta, return it to the pot, and lower the heat to medium-low. Add the butter and stir to coat the pasta in butter. Add 1/4 cup of pasta water, half the Parmesan, the chickpeas, and stir until it looks glossy and creamy like the photo (about a minute, it will thicken as you stir). Add more pasta water if it looks too thick.

Place in serving bowls or plates, top with crispy prosciutto, more Parmesan, and fresh black pepper. Add a squeeze of lemon juice if you’re feeling fancy.