Pasta e Ceci is a classic rustic Italian recipe, a simple chunky soup of small pasta and chickpeas. With some dehydrated ingredients, it is an easy and filling backpacking meal. This photo is from a doubled (or tripled, I don’t remember) batch to feed the adults on a Scout backpacking trip.

This makes 2 servings.

Do Ahead

Dehydrate the ingredients a few days before the trip. If you don’t have a home dehydrator, see if your oven or air fryer can be set to a low temperature, especially on a convection baking mode. That will do the same job as a dedicated dehydrator.

Chickpeas: One can, drained and rinsed. Dehydrate at 125º for six to eight hours.

Carrots: Peel and cut into 1/8 inch slices. Steam or parboil for eight minutes. Dehydrate at 125º for six to ten hours until leathery.

Tomato paste: Smear 1 tablespoon amounts in a thick layer on a silicone sheet. Dehydrate at 125º until leathery, maybe four to six hours. One small can of tomato paste will make a lot of dehydrated units. Peel off the smears and put them in a bag in the freezer for future use. This recipe only needs two tablespoons, so an alternative is to use a squeeze tube of tomato paste. Don’t worry too much about getting exactly a tablespoon, it will be fine.

At Home Prep

Combine these dry ingredients in a ziplock bag.

• 1 1/2 cups dehydrated chickpeas (from one can)
• 1/2 cup ditalini pasta
• 1/4 cup dried carrots
• 1/2 cup dried onions (from the supermarket)
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste (two “smears”)
• 1 teaspoon dried minced or granulated garlic
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Pack separately 2 tablespoons (or more) olive oil. I use these lab Nalgene bottles to carry olive oil without leakage.

Pack separately in a ziplock bag 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese. This bag can go into the dry ingredients bag to keep everything together.

If this is for the first night on the trail, consider packing a small round of sourdough for wiping out bowls. The extra weight is totally worth it.

On the Trail

Combine dry ingredients and olive oil in a pot with 3-4 cups of water. You’ll want to watch the water because the pasta and chickpeas will soak it up. Add more to keep it at a thick soup consistency.

Simmer until the pasta and chickpeas are ready, probably 10-15 minutes.

Serve topped with parmesan in each bowl. You can stir it into the pot, but that is harder to clean up.

Modifications

The base recipe is vegetarian. Omit the parmesan or choose a substitute to make it vegan.

For more protein, bring some canned chicken. The empty cans are very light. You can see some chicken in the photo above. Be sure to get cans that don’t need a can opener!

Use gluten-free pasta if gluten is a concern. It doesn’t have to be ditalini, but a pasta shape that fits in a spoon is a good idea.

Chickpea pasta is gluten-free and has additional protein.

Some recipes use rosemary, feel free to add that if you want.

Some recipes include greens. If you want to do some foraging, find some miner’s lettuce or other local greens and toss it in at the end.

Sources

The recipe is based on Pasta e Ceci from Fresh off the Grid. That recipe uses fresh and canned ingredients, I’ve modified it to use dehydrated ingredients.

The conversion from fresh to dehydrated amounts is from the extremely useful chapter on dried foods in The Back-Country Kitchen by Teresa Marrone.

Dehydration instructions are from the essential Recipes for Adventure by Glenn McAllister.