Cece di Navelli

Navelli is a small medieval village looking over its own plain at the foot of the Gran Sasso. In October the fields go purple with the crocus whose saffron is known all over Italy, but the chickpea has been just as much a part of how the place lived, and is still feted at the end of August, when growers and villagers compete over chickpea stew and chickpeas with saffron. They are usually small, cream and smooth; a few growers still keep a second sort, smaller, rust red and wrinkled.