Ingredients:

  Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
--------  ------------  --------------------------------
   2                    onions
   2                    carrots
   1      stick         celery
   4      cloves        plump garlic
   6      small         dried chillies -- or to taste
   4      ounces        pancetta lardons
                        olive oil
   1      small   tin   tomatoes in juice -- chopped
   1                    bouquet garni
  18      ounces        cooked weight chickpeas
  10 1/2  ounces        ditali -- short macaroni
                        -- pasta
   4      ounces        parmesan cheese -- grated
   1                    bay leaf
   1      sprig         rosemary
                        few parsley stalks -- tied together
                        olive oil

Preparation:

Peel and dice the onions, carrots and celery stick. Chop the garlic and chillies and put these plus the pancetta into a large heavy saucepan, along with a good 2 - 3 tablespoons olive oil. Cook for about 10 minutes then add chopped tomatoes, bouquet garni and chickpeas. Bring to a simmer, adding enough water to cover the chickpeas by about 1 inch. Cover and simmer for 40 minutes or until the pancetta is tender. Now turn up the heat and having removed the lid, add the pasta, stir and return to the boil. Cook, stirring often for 5 minutes, then remove the saucepan from the heat, cover and set aside for 10 minutes. Open the pan, add a good slug of olive oil and the freshly grated Parmesan. Check the seasoning, adding salt and pepper if needed. The liquid should have been almost completely absorbed by the pasta.