spaghetti with chickpeas

I liked this pasta quite a bit although I definitely see the point made by both Deb and the first reviewer about maybe having more sauce. I liked the balance of pasta to sauce, but my husband wanted more of the latter.

I substituted fresh for canned tomatoes because I had fresh ones on hand. Other than that, I followed the recipe as written. A good pantry meal ... substantive enough that I didn't bother with a side salad.

I have another pasta with chickpeas dish that I make fairly regularly (I think I got it from some Italian cooking magazine 4-5 years ago) that is equally delicious and completely vegetarian. It calls for chickpeas and Swiss chard, but leaves out the preliminary step of putting some of the chickpeas in the food processor. Next time I make it, I will follow the directions for this recipe and do the food processor step first as it definitely creates more of a unified flavor. Leaving all the chickpeas whole -- as I have always done with the other recipe -- often means that the pasta and chickpeas don't come together texturally even though the flavor combo really works. In fact, with both these recipes, I might put ALL the chickpeas in the food processor before adding them to the pasta.