Finally tried the Banza chickpea pasta I bought, with arugula and hazelnuts. Verdict: I plan to try the Banza again sometime to see if I want to put it in the weeknight rotation. Picture of plate before Parmesan cheese, which was important to help the flavors meld.
We enjoyed our dinner, though I’m not completely sold. I can’t do my one-pot weeknight dinner with this because the chickpea pasta needs lots of cooking water because it’s sticky. Normally I cheat by using my sauté pan and low water, then assemble the sauce in that same pan while the pasta drains.
The chickpea-based product is also fussier to work with than the traditional stuff. Thank you, @gracieggg for the advice to be vigilant about not overcooking. Al dente to mush—oh, that would have happened fast.
I also found that the pasta immediately stuck to the pan as I sauced it, and I needed to add extra cooking water to counteract the sticking.
The higher protein and the lower carb properties of the Banza are attractive for our purposes, so I’ll give it another try to see if this type of pasta grows on me.
