Seasonal local food recipe No.334 – Chickpeas and chard
This delicious recipe, featured in The Guardian recently, is by Rachel Roddy. I served it with feta cheese crumbled over the top.
Serves 4
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 15-20 minutes
Ingredients
250g dried chickpeas, soaked and cooked, or 400g tinned chickpeas, drained
600g chard
12 cherry tomatoes
6 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
2 garlic cloves
salt and black pepper
A handful of parsley, chopped
juice of 1/2 lemon
Ricotta, feta, goat’s cheese, lamb chops, or a poached egg, to serve
Method
Wash the chard and cut the stems from the leaves, trimming tough ends and pulling away any stringy bits. Cut the stems into short lengths, then roll the leaves into cigars and chop roughly.
Bring a large pan of water to the boil, add salt. Add the stems for 1-2 minutes, then add the leaves for a few minutes more or until tender. Drain.
Warm the olive oil over a medium-low heat. Peel and crush the garlic for a milder flavour, or slice for a stronger hit. Add to the pan with the cherry tomatoes. Fry, squashing the tomatoes gently with the back of a spoon, until they are soft and the oil is tinted red. Add the chard and stir until it glistens with oil, add the chickpeas and cook for a few minutes more.
Remove from the heat, add the parsley, lemon juice, salt and pepper, then let it sit for a while. Before serving, check seasoning, and pour over a little more oil.
