Name: Ciceri e tria
Prep time: 50 min
Cook time: 1 h 25 min
Total time: 10 h 15 min
Cuisine: Italian, Salento / Puglia
Ingredients: 350 g dried chickpeas, soaked 8–12 hours; 1.5 L water, for cooking; 1 bay leaf; 2 garlic cloves; 40 ml extra virgin olive oil; 8 g fine sea salt, add after chickpeas soften; 400 g durum wheat semolina flour; 190 ml warm water, approximately; 4 g fine sea salt; 500 ml olive or neutral frying oil; 20 ml extra virgin olive oil; 2 g black pepper; 1 g dried chilli, optional

Salento ciceri e tria with creamy chickpeas and crisp fried pasta

Prep50 minutes

Cook1 h 25 min

Total10 h 15 min

Yield6 servings

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The dish

About Ciceri e tria

Italia.it identifies ciceri e tria as a characteristic Lecce and Salento dish.

The defining pasta is a diamond or ribbon-like cut whose preparation is divided: part boiled and part fried.

Slow-cooked chickpeas provide the creamy base while fried tria creates the distinctive crisp contrast.

The dish belongs to Salento’s cucina povera tradition of simple legumes, flour and olive oil.

Technique

Three things that matter

Cook chickpeas until creamy. A small portion can be crushed to thicken the base naturally.
Dry the frying portion. Surface moisture causes splatter and prevents crisping.
Add crisp tria last. Too early and it softens completely.

Cook the dish

Ingredients

Everything needed to prepare the dish, arranged for fast scanning before cooking.

Chickpeas

350 gdried chickpeassoaked 8–12 hours
1.5 Lwaterfor cooking
1bay leaf
2garlic cloves
40 mlextra virgin olive oil
8 gfine sea saltadd after chickpeas soften

Tria pasta

400 gdurum wheat semolina flour
190 mlwarm waterapproximately
4 gfine sea salt

Frying and finish

500 mlolive or neutral frying oil
20 mlextra virgin olive oil
2 gblack pepper
1 gdried chillioptional

Step by step

Method

Cook the chickpeas

Soak overnight. Cover chickpeas generously with water and soak 8–12 hours, then drain.
They should swell noticeably.
Simmer until tender. Cover with fresh water, add bay and garlic and simmer 60–75 minutes.
Chickpeas should crush easily between fingers.
Create a creamy base. Remove bay, mash about one quarter of the chickpeas into the cooking liquid and add salt and olive oil.
The pot should become creamy but still contain many whole chickpeas.

Make the tria

Knead the dough. Mix semolina and salt with enough warm water to form a firm smooth dough.
It should feel elastic and not sticky.
Rest and roll. Rest covered 30 minutes, then roll to about 1.5 mm.
The sheet should cut cleanly without snapping back.
Cut and divide. Cut into rough short ribbons or diamonds and reserve roughly one quarter for frying.
Pieces should be similar enough to cook evenly.

Cook two ways and combine

Fry one quarter. Dry the reserved pasta well and fry at 175°C until golden and blistered; drain.
The pieces should be crisp all the way through.
Boil the remaining tria. Cook the rest in salted water until just tender, then drain and add to chickpeas with a splash of pasta water.
The boiled pasta should become coated in the chickpea cream.
Finish with fried tria. Fold in most fried pieces just before serving, keeping some on top with pepper and chilli.
The bowl should contain both soft pasta and clearly crisp pieces.

Practical guidance

Serving

Serve immediately after adding the fried tria.

Make-ahead

Chickpeas can be cooked a day ahead; make and fry the pasta close to serving.

Shortcut

Good canned chickpeas can work, but dried chickpeas produce a better cooking liquor for the traditional creamy base.

Troubleshooting

Fried tria splatters. The pasta surface was wet; dry it thoroughly before frying.
Dish is soupy. Mash more chickpeas or simmer briefly before adding pasta.
No crisp contrast remains. Fried tria was added too early and absorbed the liquid.

Nutrition per serving

Serving size: 1 pasta course
Calories: approximately 650 kcal
Carbohydrates: 91 g
Protein: 21 g
Fat: 23 g
Fibre: 15 g
Sodium: 520 mg

Approximate; includes estimated retained frying oil.

Allergens and food safety

Cool cooked chickpeas promptly if made ahead.

Keep hot oil below its smoke point and lower dry pasta carefully.

Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours, though the fried texture will soften.

FAQ

What makes ciceri e tria different from ordinary pasta e ceci?

A portion of the pasta is fried until crisp while the remainder is boiled.

What shape is tria?

Italia.it describes the Lecce pasta as a particular diamond-like cut; homemade versions may also appear as short ribbons.

Can all the pasta be boiled?

It would still be pasta and chickpeas, but it would lose the defining fried-pasta contrast of ciceri e tria.

Final note

What matters most

Result: Creamy chickpeas and tender handmade pasta punctuated by golden crisp shards of fried tria.
Key: Do not compromise the two-texture technique: boil most of the pasta and fry a smaller portion separately, adding it only at the end.