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Chickpeas and Clams (Ceci e Vongole)
Giancarlo Suriano is the founder of Surianolii, a purveyor of Calabrian ingredients. He demonstrated his version of ceci e vongole during our visit, a quick one-pot dish of chickpeas and clams. Calabrian chilies are fruity and not too spicy; Fresno chilies are a good substitute, and even red pepper flakes will do in a pinch. Canned chickpeas are easy and work well, but for the best flavor, cook your own dried chickpeas (see p. XX) and use 3 cups cooked chickpeas plus 1 cup of cooking liquid. If you prefer mussels, they work well in place of clams; the cooking time remains the same. Whichever you use, be sure to discard any that do not open after cooking.
4 to 6
Servings
Tip
Don’t add the clams until the broth is boiling, then quickly cover the pot. Clams cook best when blasted with heat and steam, so keep the lid on until ready to stir.
30 minutes
Ingredients
-
¼
cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to serve
-
3
medium garlic cloves, thinly sliced
Directions
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01In a large Dutch oven over medium, combine the oil, garlic, chili, rosemary and ¼ teaspoon pepper; cook, stirring, until the garlic has softened and the mixture is fragrant, about 4 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, then add the chickpeas and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil over medium-high. Scatter the clams into the pot, cover and cook until most of the clams have opened, 5 to 7 minutes, stirring once about halfway through.
Reviews
April 11, 2026
Simple and delicious!
Outstanding dish. Easy and limited ingredients showcase each one. Definitely use your ‘good’ olive oil to finish this one and an artisan baguette. Will be on the midweek rotation for sure!
November 2, 2025
Unusual combination, but man it works!
Perfect dish at our place in Westerly Rhode Island, fresh clams everywhere. I used some fresh (not canned) chickpeas, I had made, and while I hate when people screw with recipes and then complain, I did have one addition: Calabrian Bomba Chili paste in a jar (one spoonful). Westerly is packed with Italians from Calabria and the Italian groceries all carry Bomba. I’d bet the original used some too. Our neighbor who never eats clams devoured two bowls. Brilliant as usual for Milk Street.
June 4, 2025
The Bomb - A Trip to Calabria
Who knew chickpeas and clams would be such a winner combination? Briny clams and broth with almost buttery chickpeas. BTW, I’m generally annoyed by those who change a recipe (like people who say “I substituted gluten free cornmeal for the flour, it was just an ok recipe”!). But here I did add a spoonful of Calabrian Bomba Chili Sauce to the recipe. Hey, it’s a Calabrian recipe, you guys at Milk Street are good at making the ingredients easy to source, but you can get it online and it adds exactly the right pepper and heat and a bit of fermented funk. I’m sure it’s great as is, but this was the Bomb(a)!
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