Description
Instant Pot Chickpea Puttanesca with Orecchiette. Pressure cooked chickpeas make up the backbone of this one-pot pasta adapted from Yottam Ottolenghi.
Ingredients
Pressure Cooker Chickpeas
- 4 ounces dried chickpeas (a heaping 1/2 cup), sorted and rinsed
- 2 cups water
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
Chickpea Puttanesca
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Chickpeas (from above)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest (from about ½ a lemon)
- 1 teaspoon paprika (preferably smoked Spanish paprika)
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1½ cups vegetable broth or water
- 1 cup chickpea cooking liquid (or more vegetable broth or water)
- 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes (or substitute a 15oz can of diced tomatoes)
- ½ cup green olives, pitted and chopped
- 1 tablespoon capers
- 2 tablespoons minced parsley
- 8 ounces Orecchiette pasta (or other small pasta shape, like elbows)
- More minced parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Pressure cook the chickpeas for 45 minutes with a Quick Release: Put the dried chickpeas, 2 cups of water, ½ teaspoon of salt, and ¼ teaspoon baking soda in an Instant Pot or other pressure cooker. Lock the lid, and cook at high pressure for 45 minutes in an Instant Pot or other electric PC, or for 40 minutes in a stovetop PC. (Use “Manual” or “Pressure Cook” mode in an Instant Pot). Quick release the pressure in the pot and drain the chickpeas, saving 1 cup of the chickpea cooking liquid. Wipe out the pot if immediately moving to the next step.
- Sauté the chickpeas and the aromatics: Heat the olive oil an Instant Pot set to sauté mode adjusted to high (medium-high heat in a stovetop pressure cooker) until the olive oil starts to shimmer, about 3 minutes. Add the drained chickpeas to the hot oil, and sprinkle with the ½ teaspoon of salt. Cook the chickpeas, stirring occasionally, until they start to brown and get crispy, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, lemon zest, paprika, coriander, and red pepper flakes, and stir until the spices are evenly distributed through the chickpeas. Cook for 1 more minute, stirring often, to toast the spices a little.
- Everything in the pot: Pour in the vegetable broth and reserved chickpea cooking liquid, and scrape the bottom of the pot with a flat edged wooden spoon to loosen any browned bits of chickpeas or spices. Stir in the tomatoes, olives, capers, 2 tablespoons parsley, and the orecchiette pasta. Try to get as much of the orecchiette submerged in the liquid as you can.
- Pressure cook for 5 minutes with a 10 minute natural release: Lock the pressure cooker lid, and cook at high pressure for 5 minutes (Use “Manual” or “Pressure Cook” mode in an Instant Pot). Let the pressure come down naturally for 10 minutes, then quick release any remaining pressure.
- Serve: Stir the pot to make sure everything is evenly mixed. Ladle into bowls, sprinkle with a little more parsley to garnish, serve, and enjoy!
Notes
This recipe is perfect if you have leftover pressure cooked chickpeas - just pull a 2 cup container of chickpeas out of the freezer, and you're ready to go. Or, if you must, you can use a 15-ounce can of drained chickpeas. (Plus some low sodium vegetable broth). I mean, if Mr. Ottolenghi says it's OK, it's OK. But, please, try it with homemade chickpeas, and I'll be surprised if you ever go back to canned.
Cherry tomatoes vs canned tomatoes. Now, while I may be a canned bean snob, I'm the opposite when it comes to tomatoes. Most of the time, unless it is the height of tomato season, I'll recommend canned tomatoes. This recipe is an exception, though, because modern grocery store Cherry and Grape tomatoes have a lot more flavor than old-style, bland grocery store tomatoes. I have canned tomatoes as an option for this recipe, but if you can grab a pint of cherry tomatoes, they work really well in this recipe.
Chickpeas or garbanzos? They’re the same bean. Garbanzo is Spanish for chickpea.
Tools
6 quart or larger pressure cooker (I love my Instant Pot 6-Quart Pressure Cooker)
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 90 minutes
- Category: Weeknight Dinner
- Method: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: Mediterranean