'Tria' pasta with chickpea sauce

This chickpea pasta sauce is a classic of Salento's gastronomic tradition. Chickpeas with 'tria', a hand made pasta shape. In Salento, and more generally in Puglia, homemade pasta does not include eggs but is made from a dough prepared simply with water and flour - very easy to work by hand. Salentine pasta and chickpea sauce is made even more distinctive by the addition of fried pasta strips, rendering it particularly tasty and crispy, and is lovely sprinkled with black pepper. In short, it is a traditional dish of great simplicity and great impact, it's very economical, and is also well-balanced from a nutritional point of view.

Soak the chickpeas in plenty of water the night before. The following day drain, rinse and then boil the chickpeas in plenty of water with two bay leaves. If possible, boil the chickpeas in a terracotta pot: they'll be ready in two hours. Meanwhile mix 300g of flour with 150ml of water, and from the prepared dough make the pasta strips ('tria'). Allow the dough to dry for about half an hour, then fry some of the strips in boiling oil. Set aside. Gently brown the garlic in some oil in a frying pan, then remove the garlic and discard. Blitz a couple tablespoons of the chickpeas with some stock and a little oil in an electric blender and add them to the pan. Add the remaining chickpeas. Cook the remaining pasta in salted boiling water, drain and add to the chickpea sauce. Finish with some black pepper and top with the strips of fried pasta. Serve after resting for a few minutes.