Endurance

Pasta e Ceci (Roman Pasta with Chickpeas)

One pot, 100 g of slow carbs and 23 g of protein: the night-before-the-race dinner Romans have eaten for centuries.

Pasta e ceci is a Roman one-pot dish of short pasta simmered with chickpeas, rosemary, garlic and a spoon of tomato paste until the starch turns the broth creamy. With about 100 g of carbohydrate and 23 g of protein per bowl, and about 610 calories, it's the ideal dinner before a long run or ride — easy to digest, cheap, and ready in 35 minutes.

By RecipeUp Kitchen · Published September 14, 2026 ·

A steaming bowl of chickpea and small pasta soup, garnished with rosemary, grated cheese, and olive oil, sits on a wooden table with bread.

Prep10 min
Cook25 min
Total35 min
Serves4
LevelEasy
Per serving611 kcal · 23P · 101C · 13F

Romans eat pasta e ceci on Fridays, by tradition, and the rest of the week whenever they need something that costs almost nothing and fills the house with the smell of rosemary and garlic. It belongs to the family of pasta e legumi — pasta with beans, with lentils, with chickpeas — that Italian cooks have used for centuries to turn a handful of pantry ingredients into a meal.

We turned to it for the endurance collection because it is, almost by accident, the perfect carb-loading dinner. The pasta and chickpeas supply a lot of carbohydrate with just enough fiber and protein; the broth keeps it hydrating; the fat is low so it sits lightly. Marathoners in Rome have been eating this the night before for as long as there's been a marathon in Rome.

Why this recipe works for endurance

Carb-loading works by topping up muscle glycogen in the 24–48 hours before an event lasting over 90 minutes; sports-nutrition guidelines put the target at 8–12 g of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight per day. For a 150-lb (68 kg) athlete that's 550–800 g in a day, which is hard to reach without meals built around starch. This bowl contributes about 100 g. Chickpeas add protein and a moderate 12 g of fiber — enough to be satisfying, not so much that it causes trouble on race morning (people sensitive to fiber can swap half the chickpeas for extra pasta). Moderate fat — 13 g per serving, from olive oil — means the meal leaves the stomach quickly and doesn't compete with carbohydrate absorption. Sodium from the broth and salt helps you hold on to the water you drink with it.

Instructions

Build the base. Warm the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery and a pinch of salt and cook gently for 6–8 minutes until soft. Add the garlic and rosemary and cook 1 minute, then stir in the tomato paste and cook 2 minutes until it darkens a shade.
Add the chickpeas and broth. Add the chickpeas and the broth, salt, pepper flakes and pepper. Bring to a boil, then simmer 10 minutes. Scoop out about 1 cup of chickpeas with a little liquid and mash them roughly with a fork (or pulse in a blender), then stir back in — this is what makes the broth creamy.
Cook the pasta in the pot. Add the pasta and cook at a lively simmer, stirring often so nothing sticks, until al dente — usually 2 minutes less than the package says, because it keeps cooking off the heat. Add hot water ½ cup at a time if it gets too thick; the finished dish should be somewhere between a thick soup and a saucy pasta.
Rest and serve. Remove the rosemary stems and garlic cloves. Turn off the heat, cover, and let it sit 3 minutes. Taste for salt. Ladle into bowls and finish with cheese, parsley, black pepper and a thread of olive oil.

Tips from our kitchen

Watch the pasta. It cooks faster in a starchy broth than in plain water and there's no draining to stop it; pull it a touch early.
It thickens fast as it sits. Serve immediately, and keep a kettle of hot water nearby to loosen leftovers.
Rosemary, not basil. This is a winter, pantry dish; the resinous herb is the point.
Race-week version: use regular pasta rather than whole-wheat, and if fiber bothers you on race morning, use 1 can of chickpeas and 14 oz of pasta instead.

Variations

Pasta e ceci with anchovies: melt 3 anchovy fillets into the oil with the garlic. Not vegetarian, deeply savory.
Recovery version: halve the pasta, keep the chickpeas, add 2 cups baby spinach at the end and a poached egg on top.
Vegan: skip the cheese; finish with a squeeze of lemon and more olive oil.
Higher protein, same carbs: use chickpea-flour pasta (about 10 g more protein per serving).

Storage & meal prep

Keeps 3 days in the fridge and turns into a thick stew; reheat with a good splash of water or broth. It doesn't freeze well once the pasta is in — freeze the chickpea base alone and cook fresh pasta into it.

Nutrition per serving

Nutrient	Amount	% DV*
Calories	611 kcal	31%
Total fat	13 g	17%
Saturated fat	2.4 g	12%
Carbohydrates	101 g	37%
Fiber	12 g	43%
Sugars	6.9 g	—
Protein	23 g	46%
Sodium	1040 mg	45%

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000-calorie diet. Values are calculated from USDA FoodData Central and manufacturer data for the ingredients as listed; they are estimates, not lab analyses. Nutrition disclaimer.

Frequently asked questions

Is pasta e ceci good for carb loading?

Yes — that's why it's in our endurance collection. Each bowl has about 100 g of carbohydrate with only 13 g of fat, which is the profile sports nutritionists recommend for pre-event meals: high carbohydrate, low fat, moderate fiber and protein. Eat it 12–16 hours before a long run, ride or race.

What is pasta e ceci?

Pasta e ceci ("pasta and chickpeas") is a traditional dish from Rome and central Italy: short pasta cooked directly in a chickpea broth flavored with rosemary, garlic and tomato, until the starches thicken it into something between a soup and a saucy pasta.

How much pasta should I eat before a race?

Guidelines for events over 90 minutes suggest 8–12 g of carbohydrate per kg of body weight per day in the 1–2 days before. For most people that means every meal needs 100–150 g of carbohydrate. One bowl of this provides about 100 g; add a slice of bread or a piece of fruit to reach the upper range.

Can I make it with dried chickpeas?

Yes, and it will be better. Soak 1¼ cups (250 g) dried chickpeas overnight, simmer with a bay leaf until tender (1–1½ hours), and use them with their cooking water in place of the canned chickpeas and broth.

Is this dish vegan?

It is if you leave out the cheese at the end. Everything else is plant-based.

Sources

USDA FoodData Central — pasta (dry, enriched), chickpeas (canned, drained)
Burke, L. M. et al. (2011). Carbohydrates for training and competition. Journal of Sports Sciences — carbohydrate loading guidelines (8–12 g/kg/day)
Thomas, D. T. et al. (2016). Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Dietitians of Canada, and the ACSM: Nutrition and Athletic Performance.