Pasta & Garbonzo Beans with Roasted Red Peppers

A bright, meatless Italian pasta toss that leans hard on the broiler for flavor. Sweet red bell peppers, roma tomatoes, fresh basil, and garlic get spread on a sheet pan and broiled until the peppers soften and blister, which pulls out their sugars and concentrates flavor much faster than oven-roasting.

While the peppers work under the flame, chickpeas marinate in balsamic vinegar with diced red onion. That short pickle softens the onion’s bite and lets the beans soak up acid, so by the time everything lands in the bowl, every ingredient is already seasoned from the inside out.

Toss hot, just-drained rotini into the mix. The residual heat wakes up the basil, melts the chickpeas into the sauce, and lets the pasta drink the balsamic-pepper juices that collect at the bottom of the bowl. Reserve a quarter cup of chopped basil and a handful of grated cheese for the top so each plate gets a fresh herb hit.

Kitchen Tips

• Watch the broiler like a hawk. Peppers go from softened to charcoal in about 90 seconds.
• Rinse and drain canned chickpeas well. Starchy liquid dulls the balsamic tang.
• Salt the pasta water aggressively (it should taste like the sea). Under-salted pasta tastes flat no matter how good the sauce is.
• Serve warm or at room temperature. Fridge-cold kills the basil aroma, so pull it out 20 minutes before serving.

Variations

• Stir in a handful of kalamata olives or capers for a briny kick.
• Crumble in feta or shaved Parmesan instead of the generic cheese topping.
• Swap rotini for penne, orecchiette, or farro for a heartier bowl.