Ciceri e tria

“Ciceri e tria” is a traditional dish from Salento, whose name derives from the term “ciceri” meaning chickpeas and “tria”, which is a kind of homemade pasta similar to tagliatelle. The dish brings together fried and boiled pasta with chickpeas in a blend that tastes like Southern comfort food. Here is the recipe with an Italian touch:

Ingredients

• 250 g of dried chickpeas
• 300 g of durum wheat flour (plus a little more for working the dough)
• Water as needed
• 1 clove of garlic
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt to taste
• Red chili pepper to taste (optional)
• A handful of chopped parsley (optional)

Preparation

1. The night before, soak the chickpeas in plenty of water with a pinch of baking soda.
2. The next day, drain the chickpeas and cook them in a pot with fresh water until they are soft (about 2 hours). Salt towards the end of cooking.
3. While the chickpeas are cooking, prepare the pasta: place the flour in a mound on a work surface, add a pinch of salt and warm water as needed to obtain a smooth and elastic dough. Let the dough rest covered with a damp cloth for about 30 minutes.
4. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin until you get a thin sheet, then cut it into strips about 1 cm wide (the “tria”).
5. In a large frying pan, heat plenty of olive oil and fry about a third of the tria until it becomes golden and crispy. Drain it and set it aside on paper towels.
6. In the same water used to cook the chickpeas, cook the rest of the pasta for about 7-10 minutes or until al dente.
7. In a large frying pan, sauté the garlic clove in a stream of oil, add the chickpeas with a bit of their cooking water and let them flavor.
8. Add the boiled pasta to the chickpeas, mixing gently.
9. Incorporate the fried pasta, sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve hot, adding red chili pepper if desired.

Curiosity

The uniqueness of the dish lies in being a “poor” farmer’s kitchen dish that makes the most of simple ingredients and allows for different textures with both fried and boiled pasta. It is said that the custom of frying part of the pasta comes from the need to use the oil left over from oil lamps, which was recycled in the kitchen.

If you want to vary, you can add a little extra with some seasonal vegetables or further flavor with fresh herbs. Cooking is about imagination, so feel free to add your own personal interpretation to this traditional recipe!