Chickpea nooch carbonara

cooked1 serving13 Jun 2026

“Pretty good, but could probably have added even more water”

Ingredients

• 400 gchickpeas, rinsed and dried
• 80 gbacon, chopped
• 220 mlcream
• 2 tbspnutritional yeast, plus 1/2 tbsp extra
• white pepper
• smoked paprika, a pinch
• MSG and salt
• water, as needed
• cheddar, to finish

Steps

1. 1render the bacon until crisp; reserve some for topping and leave the fat in the pan
2. 2crisp the chickpeas in the bacon fat until golden and blistered, then smash about half of them
3. 3add cream over low heat and let it tighten gently
4. 4stir in nutritional yeast, lots of white pepper, smoked paprika, MSG and salt
5. 5loosen with water until the sauce stays spoonable, then top with bacon and cheddar

Tweaks

• —the egg yolk and pasta were dropped; extra smashed chickpeas and more liquid replaced the body
• —the final batch used about 220 ml cream plus water and needed more liquid than the first 120 ml estimate