Chickpea Purée Recipes

Steps:

• Stir cumin in dry skillet over medium heat until lightly toasted, about 2 minutes. Transfer to mortar or spice mill; grind.
• Heat 1/4 cup oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add garlic and cumin; stir 1 minute. Add chickpeas, 1 teaspoon coarse salt, paprika, and cayenne; sauté until chickpeas begin to darken, about 5 minutes. Pour chickpea liquid into 2-cup measuring cup; add enough water (if necessary) to measure 2 cups. Add liquid to chickpea mixture; bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium; simmer until chickpeas begin to soften, stirring often, about 10 minutes. Pour chickpea mixture into strainer set over bowl; reserve cooking liquid. Transfer chickpeas to processor; add 3/4 cup of reserved cooking liquid. Add 1/2 cup oil; puree until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Cool. Do ahead Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; chill. Bring to room temperature before using.

Steps:

• Pour the chickpeas into a colander and rinse them under cold running water. Drain well. Place the chickpeas in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Add the chicken stock and pulse until the chickpeas are coarsely pureed.
• In a medium (10-inch) saute pan, heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add the tomato and saute for 3 to 4 minutes, until the tomato is softened. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more. Add the chickpeas, stirring to combine with the tomatoes and garlic. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until heated through. Off the heat, stir in the Parmesan, parsley, lemon juice, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper and taste for seasonings. Pile in a serving bowl, drizzle with extra olive oil, and serve with shards of grilled country bread.

Steps:

• Drain and rinse chickpeas and put them into a saucepan. Cover with cold water by 2 inches. Add salt and pepper, to taste, smashed garlic cloves and the bay leaves and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer beans until tender, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Drain, reserving about 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Remove the bay leaves and discard.
• Put cooked chickpeas into a food processor or blender. Add the olive oil, lemon juice and zest, whole garlic, and salt and pepper, to taste. Process until smooth; add some of the reserved cooking liquid to thin if, needed. Serve as a base to grilled marinated lamb or put into a serving dish and garnish with a drizzle of olive oil and the parsley.

Steps:

• Cut eggplant into 3/4-inch-thick slices and sprinkle both sides with salt. Arrange eggplant in a large colander set over a bowl and let stand 30 minutes to drain.
• Preheat broiler.
• Rinse eggplant slices and pat dry with paper towels. Broil eggplant on a rack of a broiler pan about 4 inches from heat until deep golden, about 6 minutes on each side. When eggplant is cool enough to handle, peel off skins, scraping all flesh from skins and discarding them.
• In a food processor pulse eggplant with remaining ingredients until just puréed and season with salt and pepper. Purée may be made 3 days ahead and chilled, covered.

Steps:

• Roast lamb chops and carrots:
• Put a 4-sided sheet pan in lower third of oven and preheat oven to 450°F.
• Whisk together oil, spices, and 1 teaspoon salt. Toss carrots with half of spiced oil and coat chops with remaining oil. Arrange chops and carrots side by side in hot sheet pan. Roast, turning and stirring halfway through, until carrots are just tender and chops are medium-rare, 4 to 6 minutes total for lamb; 10 to 15 for carrots.
• Meanwhile, make chickpea purée:
• With food processor running, drop garlic through feed tube to finely chop. Add chickpeas, water, cumin, and 1/4 teaspoon salt and purée. With motor running, slowly add oil and blend until smooth.
• Serve lamb and carrots on a bed of chickpea purée. Drizzle with pan juices.

Steps:

• Soak the chickpeas in 1 quart water for six hours or overnight. Drain.
• Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over medium heat in a large, heavy soup pot or Dutch oven. Add the onion. Cook, stirring, until tender, about five minutes. Stir in the garlic, spices and a generous pinch of salt. Cook, stirring, for about a minute, until the mixture is fragrant. Add the chickpeas and 6 cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer one hour. Add salt to taste (about 1 teaspoon) and continue to simmer for another 30 minutes to an hour. The beans should be very tender.
• Puree the soup in a blender (in small batches, covering the top with a dish towel to avoid hot splashes) or with an immersion blender until smooth. Put through a strainer for a very smooth texture, pushing it through with the bottom of a ladle or a spatula. Return to the pot, and heat through, stirring the bottom and sides of the pot so that the puree doesn't stick. Stir in the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and the lemon juice. Taste and adjust seasonings.
• Serve, garnishing each bowl with a few drops of olive oil or lemon juice if desired and a sprinkle of chopped fresh mint.

Steps:

• Drain and rinse chick peas.
• Place in a blender with the garlic and chilli, chop the coriander and mint and place into blender, add rest of ingredients and blend to a puree, do not over blend.
• Taste and adjust seasoning with sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, you may need more salt than you may think.