Mina Stone’s Chickpeas
- 1 lb. dried chickpeas, soaked overnight, drained
- 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
- 6 garlic cloves, crushed
- (2) 3 x 1″ strips lemon zest
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
Combine chickpeas, onion, garlic, lemon zest, oil, and a couple of big pinches of salt in a large pot. Add 2 quarts of water and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally and replacing any water that evaporates, until chickpeas are tender about 2 hours. Taste and season generously with salt and pepper. Let cool.
Do Ahead: Chickpeas can be made 6 days ahead. Transfer to an airtight container and chill.
Simple Chickpea Soup | Michael Pollan (adapted by Emily Weinstein)
Yield: About 6 servings, Time: 1 hr, 15 min
- 1 large yellow onion, finely diced
- 3 Tbsp olive oil, more for serving
- 1 clove garlic, slivered
- 2 (15½-ounce) cans chickpeas
- Juice of ½ lemon, more to taste
- Salt and pepper
- Parmesan, optional
In a soup pot over medium heat, sauté onion in olive oil until onion is translucent and has lost its bite. Add garlic and cook until slightly colored.
Rinse chickpeas in cold water, then add to pot. Add water to the pot until chickpeas are covered to a depth of 1 inch.
Cook over medium heat (soup should bubble, but not come to a full boil) for an hour, or until the chickpeas are soft and silky. Add lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Serve topped with grated Parmesan or a drizzle of good olive oil if desired.
Leblebi Moroccan Chickpea Stew (North African Chickpea Soup) | Ali Stafford (Source: Cal Peternell’s Twelve Recipes) Peternell suggests a few other serving ideas: croutons, a poached egg or hard-boiled egg, a sprinkling of ground cumin, oil and capers. I keep it simple and swirl in some harissa, which is now readily available at most markets.
Simple Harissa: Make a paste with 2 tablespoons paprika and 3 tablespoons hot water. Add 2 teaspoons crushed garlic, 3 tablespoons olive oil, a splash of vinegar, and, if you wish, ground cumin and cayenne. Mix together 3 tablespoons sambal oelek, 1 to 2 cloves crushed garlic, and 6 tablespoons olive oil.
- 4 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp paprika
- crushed red pepper flakes
- ½ cup roughly chopped cilantro stems and leaves
- 2 garlic cloves, sliced or chopped
- ¾ cup canned crushed tomatoes
- 3 (15 oz) cans of chickpeas, drained and rinsed (6 cups)
Serve with: Harissa and flatbreads
Heat a soup pot over high heat. Add the oil, then the onion and a pinch of salt. Stir, turn the heat to low, and cover the pot. Check and stir after a few minutes, letting the moisture on the lid drip back into the pot to keep things steamy. Lower the heat if there is any browning going on, and re-cover. Cook like this until the onion is tender, about 15 minutes.
Add the cumin, paprika, pepper flakes, cilantro and garlic and stir for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and cook for a couple of minutes more, stirring occasionally. Add 6 cups of the cooked chickpeas and enough of their cooking liquid to cover by 2 inches, raise the heat, and bring to a boil. (You’ll need about 4 cups liquid total: all of the cooking liquid, which was 3 cups plus 1 cup extra water — the chickpeas may not be covered by 2 inches, but it will be fine.) Season with salt to taste — I always add another teaspoon, but you may want to start with 1/2 a teaspoon and add more to taste.
Lower to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Put 2 ladles of soup in a blender or food mill and purée — careful: it’s hot. (I used an immersion blender and puréed partially.) Return to the soup pot and stir in to thicken the leblebi slightly. Taste for seasonings and add water or any reserved cooking liquid if it’s too thick. Note: When reheating, you most likely will need to add water to achieve desired consistency.
To serve: ladle the leblebi into bowls. Pass a bowl of harissa on the side. Serve with warm flatbreads.
When I cooked my dried chickpeas for recipes (they’re so much better than canned; revelatory) I used the “Method for Stovetop, Uncovered” here, and dropped half an onion and a few cloves of peeled and smashed garlic into the pot when it was time to cook them. – Emily Nunn
https://food52.com/blog/25464-how-to-cook-dried-chickpeas
Stovetop, Covered & Stovetop, Uncovered
Method For Stovetop, Covered
- Soak ½ cup of dried chickpeas for 12 hours.
- Drain, rinse, and add to a pot. Cover by a few inches with water, and add ½ teaspoon salt.
- Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and cook at a simmer until tender, about 90 minutes to 2 hours.
Method For Stovetop, Uncovered
- Soak ½ cup dried chickpeas for 12 hours.
- Drain, rinse, and add the soaked chickpeas to a pot. Cover by a few inches with water, and add ½ teaspoon salt.
- Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and cook at a simmer until tender, about 90 minutes to 2 hours.
Results
I conducted both the stovetop, covered, and stovetop, uncovered trials simultaneously and was flummoxed by the subtle differences in the final products, insofar as one can be flummoxed hours into a chickpea cooking marathon. The covered batch somehow ended up less salty than the uncovered batch, but with skins that were much easier to remove. Texturally, the covered chickpeas were a hair silkier, whereas the uncovered ones were starchier, like tiny mashed potatoes.
Recipe: Chickpea Salad with Onions and Paprika (slada hummas) | reprinted by Dept of Salad/Emily Nunn
Serves 4
This delicious and easy salad is from the 2008 book Flavors of Morocco, by Ghillie Basan, who points out that chickpeas, beans, and lentils are eaten daily in rural Morocco. This dish can be served at room temperature or warm. I took the liberty of quickly frying/frizzling half the onions, to create contrasting flavors and textures. If I were making this for a dinner party or lunch, I’d have all the ingredients prepped, then bring out the chickpeas to warm them before assembling the salad. You can eat it at room temperature, but the way the heated chickpeas wilt the herbs and melt the cheese a bit is really nice.
- 4 cups cooked chickpeas (just cooked or re-warmed)
- 1 medium-small red onion, cut in half lengthwise then in half crosswise and sliced with the grain, divided (you’re going to leave half of them raw and fry the other half)
- 2 large cloves garlic, grated (you may use up to 4)
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 to 2 teaspoons paprika (I used two; it seems like a lot, but it’s not, especially when the cheese goes in and mingles with it all
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- Juice of one lemon
- Small bunch of flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
- Small bunch of cilantro, coarsely chopped
- 4 oz goat cheese or feta, crumbled (I used goat, and it was absolutely dreamy; you may leave out the cheese, but I don’t recommend it)
- Flakey sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Bread, to serve (I had whole wheat pita)
In a frying pan, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive over medium-high heat. Add half the sliced onions and fry, stirring occasionally, until beginning to blacken in places. Stir in a pinch of the paprika, remove from heat, and set aside.
To a large bowl containing your just cooked (or re-warmed) chickpeas, add the raw and cooked onions, garlic, cumin, and paprika and stir to combine. Add the olive oil and lemon juice and toss gently to coat. Season with salt and pepper to taste and add most of the herbs. If using cheese, sprinkle it over the salad now along with the remaining herbs. Toss a bit, to allow the cheese and herbs to mingle with the chickpeas, and serve immediately, with bread.
One Pot Curried Chickpeas | Ali Stafford
This chickpea curry is an adaptation of this chicken curry recipe I learned to make while working at Fork in Philadelphia many years ago. In place of 8 bone-in chicken thighs, I’ve swapped in two cans of drained chickpeas.
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion, sliced
- kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons turmeric
- 2 teaspoons curry powder
- 1 to 3 tablespoons Thai red curry paste (see notes above)
- 1 cup crushed tomatoes (canned) or 3 to 4 plum tomatoes, chopped
- 1 can (13.5 oz) unsweetened coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce, optional, see notes above
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- 2 cans (15 ounces each) chickpeas, drained and rinsed or 3 cups cooked chickpeas, see notes above
- ½ cup cilantro, roughly chopped, or more or less to taste
For Serving: cooked Basmati or Jasmine rice (or any rice you like), Naan
Heat oven to 400ºF.
In a large sauté pan over high heat, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the onions and a pinch of salt, and immediately turn the heat to medium-low. Stir every so often, and cook until the onions soften and begin browning at the edges, about 5 minutes.
Add the curry powder, turmeric, and Thai red curry paste to the onions, and stir until the onions are coated in the spices, about a minute. Add the crushed tomatoes and stir to combine. (If you are using fresh tomatoes, cook until they just begin to soften, about a minute.) Add the can of coconut milk. Fill up the empty can of coconut milk with water and add to the pan. Add the fish sauce, if using, and brown sugar to the pan and whisk to combine. At this point, I’ve been adding 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, but you may need more or less to taste depending on if you are using the fish sauce and the brand of curry paste you are using. I suggest bringing the mixture to a simmer, tasting it, then adding salt to taste. You can always add more at the end, too.
Add the chickpeas and bring to a simmer. Transfer the pan to the oven uncovered and cook for 35 to 40 minutes — the liquid will reduce considerably but depending on how saucy you want it, you may want to cook it for more or less time. Note: If you make this ahead, you will need to add more water upon reheating.
Add cilantro and stir. Taste. Adjust with salt to taste. Spoon rice into bowls. Top with the chickpeas and sauce, and serve immediately.
Back to Marseille after a few nights away and not much in the fridge: a lovingly wrapped bunch of herbs, a few last leaves of what was the most gorg chard, half a zucchini and a little piece of Comté leftover from my train dinner. I put a stock on in the morning of vegetable pieces I’d saved from cooking last week and let that bubble away as I worked at my lovely old desk. The smell quickly filling the apartment, reminding every part of me that I’m home. I stop for lunch and make this bowl. I sauté shallot and garlic, add in some zucchini and the stems from the chard. Then in with a few ladles of the hot stock along with the chard leaves. While the chickpeas braise, I make @daniellemariealvarez’s salsa verde with my mélange of herbs that I spoon over the chickpeas in my bowl. A shaving of Comté, a crack of pepper, a sprinkle of salt, a glug of olive oil and I’m very happy. Not just because it’s delicious, but at the joy of making something out of very little. Maybe reading through M.F.K Fisher’s How to Cook a Wolf while in Paris got to me more than I realised… @harriet.olive
Beans and Greens Alla Vodka | Ali Slagle
Yield:4 servings
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- Kosher salt
- 1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
- ¼ cup vodka
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 (15-ounce) cans of chickpeas, or white beans (such as cannellini or Great Northern), drained but not rinsed
- 1 bunch kale, ribs removed, leaves torn or coarsely chopped
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- Grated Parmesan, as needed
In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium-high. Add the onion and garlic, season with salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste, vodka, and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring, until the tomato paste is a shade darker and starts to stick to the bottom of the pot, 2 to 3 minutes.
Add 2 cups water, the beans, and the kale, season with salt, and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to maintain a simmer, cover, and cook until the liquid is flavorful and the kale is tender, 7 to 10 minutes.
Remove from the heat and stir in the heavy cream. Taste and if it needs more salt, stir in some grated Parmesan. Serve with more Parmesan on top.
