Did you make it through 40 days of Lenten abstinence, relying mostly on the tins and cans already in your cupboard? I’m not a great faster, but I have been using up the many cans of chickpeas I had at the start of the month, so maybe I was abstaining without realising it.
There’s a joyful contradiction with chickpeas, too: on the one hand, they have been a simple, rustic meal since Roman times, but at the same time, and along with other legumes, they have always had such prominence and importance that four of the greatest Roman families took their names from them: Fabius from the fava bean, Lentulus from the lentil, Piso from the pea and, of course, Cicero from the chickpea.
It’s that contradiction – humble yet also powerfully versatile – that defines this tiny legume, and that means a can of chickpeas is for life, in all its decadence, and not just for the abstinence of Lent.
Turkey and chickpea meatballs
There are two kinds of chickpea: the larger, softer ones often sold in jars, and the more familiar small ones in cans (I favour the Napolina brand for those). Ideally, use the former for this, because they’ll give the meatballs a better texture. Serve with a chunky vegetable salad and a dollop of Greek yoghurt. Makes 12 meatballs, to serve four.
6 cardamom pods
10 black peppercorns
3 cloves
⅓ tsp fenugreek
1½ tsp cumin seeds
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger
1½ tsp sumac
Salt
3 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 large garlic clove, peeled and crushed
150g cooked chickpeas, rinsed and drained
500g minced turkey thigh
10g coriander leaves, roughly chopped
10g mint leaves, roughly chopped
Finely grated zest of ½ lemon
60g tahini paste
1 plum tomato, coarsely grated (discard the skin)
1 lemon, quartered, to serve
Put the first eight spices in a spice grinder with a teaspoon of salt, blitz until fine, then put to one side.
Heat one tablespoon of the oil in a large frying pan on a medium-high flame, then fry the onion for seven to eight minutes, stirring regularly, until soft and golden brown. Tip in the spice mix, garlic and chickpeas, and cook for two to three minutes, mashing the chickpeas while they’re cooking, then take the pan off the heat and leave to cool. Once the mixture has cooled down, add the turkey mince, herbs, lemon zest, tahini and tomato, mix well, then form into 12 5cm-wide balls.
Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Wipe clean the frying pan, add the remaining two tablespoons of oil and heat over a medium-high flame. Once hot, fry the meatballs for seven minutes, turning them carefully, until browned all over, then transfer to a small baking tray and bake for 10 minutes until cooked through. Serve warm, with a wedge of lemon alongside.
Sweet potato and chickpea patties with coconut and apple salsa
Thanks to Claire Hodgson, my daytime head chef at Ottolenghi Islington, for the salsa recipe. Makes 24 patties, to serve six.
1kg large sweet potatoes (ie, about 3 in total)
2 tins cooked chickpeas, drained, rinsed and patted dry (480g drained weight)
Salt
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
8 spring onions, finely chopped
1 tbsp medium curry powder
1½ tsp ground cumin
¾ tsp dried chilli flakes
4cm piece fresh ginger, finely grated
1 tbsp black mustard seeds
Finely grated zest of 1 lime
2 tsp maple syrup
50g chickpea flour
75ml olive oil
For the salsa
120g coconut cream
1 large garlic clove, peeled and crushed
70ml lime juice
3cm piece fresh ginger, finely grated
1 small granny smith apple (100g), coarsely grated
15g coriander leaves, roughly chopped
Heat the oven to 220C/425F/gas mark 7. Put the sweet potatoes on a medium oven tray and bake for 40-50 minutes, until soft all the way through. Set aside and, once cool enough to handle, scoop out the flesh and put it in a colander lined with a clean J-cloth or muslin; discard the skins. Set aside for an hour, every now and then squeezing out as much of the liquid as possible: in the end, you should have about 500g flesh.
Mix all the salsa ingredients in a small bowl with a quarter-teaspoon of salt.
Put three-quarters of the chickpeas in a large bowl and roughly mash. Add the remaining whole chickpeas, the sweet potato, a teaspoon and a quarter of salt, and all the remaining ingredients bar the oil. Mix to combine, then, using two dessert spoons, divide into 24 portions of just under 50g each: it’s soft, so don’t shape into patties just yet.
Heat two tablespoons of oil in a large, nonstick frying pan on a medium flame. Add six portions of the sweet potato mix, press each one down into a 7cm-round patty once they’re in the pan, and fry for three to four minutes, flipping them halfway through, until golden brown on both sides. Transfer to a plate and repeat with the remaining patty mix, adding a tablespoon of oil to the pan with each batch. Serve warm with salsa spooned on top or alongside.
Rose harissa chickpeas with flaked cod
These chickpeas are lovely on their own, too, which turns them into a 15-minute meal, because you don’t have to wait for the fish to marinate for half an hour. Serves four, as part of a meze, or two as a main.
200g skinless and boneless cod loin, cut into 3cm pieces
2½ tbsp olive oil
½ tsp ground cumin
2 garlic cloves, peeled, 1 crushed, the other thinly sliced
Salt
½ medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
⅛ tsp ground cardamom
1 tbsp rose harissa (or regular harissa)
2 tsp tomato paste
1 small preserved lemon, finely chopped
1 tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed (240g drained weight)
200ml vegetable stock
5g coriander leaves, roughly chopped
Mix the cod with a teaspoon and a half of olive oil, a quarter-teaspoon of cumin, the crushed garlic and a pinch of salt, and leave to marinate for half an hour.
Heat the remaining two tablespoons of oil in a large saute pan on a medium-high flame. Once hot, fry the onion for four to five minutes, stirring often, until soft and golden brown. Turn down the heat to medium, add the sliced garlic and stir for a minute, then add the remaining cumin, the cardamom, harissa, tomato paste, preserved lemon, chickpeas and a quarter-teaspoon of salt. Stir for a minute, pour in the stock and leave to cook for three to four minutes, crushing some of the chickpeas with the back of the spoon, until the sauce is thick. Add the fish to the pot and leave it to poach for three to four minutes, gently turning it over halfway through, until cooked through and starting to flake apart. Stir in the coriander (or, if you prefer, scatter it on top of the finished dish as a garnish), spoon into a shallow bowl and serve hot.
Crisp spinach with chickpeas
Spinach as you’ve never known it, and the complete opposite of just-wilted greens. Here, it’s cooked for so long that the leaves go very dark and take on a texture a bit like crisp seaweed. The result is an addictive tapas or a side to spoon alongside pretty much anything. A squeeze of lemon at the end is welcome, but not essential. Serves four.
500g spinach leaves, washed, tough stems removed
25g parsley leaves, roughly chopped
10g oregano leaves
Salt
125ml olive oil
1 tin chickpeas, drained, rinsed and dried (240g drained weight)
2 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
Put a large saucepan on a high heat, add the spinach, parsley, oregano and a third of a teaspoon of salt, and leave to wilt, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes, until the leaves start to stick to the bottom of the pan. Turn down the heat to medium-low and gradually pour in the oil, stirring as you pour and scraping the browned leaves from the base of the pan. Leave to cook for another 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the greens are dark, then stir in the chickpeas and fry gently for 10 minutes more, stirring now and then, until the chickpeas are just starting to brown but are still soft inside. Add the garlic, fry, stirring occasionally, for a final five minutes, then spoon into a shallow bowl and serve.
