Palimpsest

DITAlini and Chickpeas
posted by Simon Bate

There are times when my silly brain notices something and it just won't let go. A few weeks ago I was leafing through a "foodie" magazine and I saw a reference to a pasta known as ditalini ("little thimbles"). Because I've spent the past year working with and teaching about DITA (the Darwin Information Typing Architecture), the letters "dita" in "ditalini" caught my eye. "Hmmm," I thought, "Company potluck coming up in a couple of months...I can't pass this one up."

I was prepared for a major search to find a box, so I was quite surprised when I found a box of ditalini on the shelves of my regular grocery store. Once I had found it, the next question was: what to do with it? Perhaps a simple pasta and beans recipe. When cooked, each piece of ditalini is about the size of a chickpea (garbonzo, ceci), so that's a natural pairing. I found a recipe and modified it a bit to my liking.

2 Tbsp olive oil
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
2 15 oz. cans chickpeas (NOT drained)
1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes, drained
1/2 tsp each thyme, rosemary, oregano, basil, marjoram
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 cup ditalini (uncooked)

Heat the oil in a 3-4 quart saucepan. Add the garlic and allow to brown slightly.

Add the peas and their liquid, the tomatoes, pasta, salt and pepper, and ditalini. Bring to a boil, then let simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season to taste and serve.

Grate some Parmigiano-Reggiano over each serving.

I showed the box when I unveiled my dish at the potluck. It received all the appropriate groans.

Now I have to figure out what to do next year. Has anyone else found some foodstuff with a similar relationship to our profession or industry?

Labels: dita ditalini recipes potluck

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