Happy Friday!
If you’re new here, WELCOME…This is first and foremost a place for recipes, but also where I can dish out expertise on the only thing I truly know about- how to feed your friends. I hope that You Bring The Wine either remains, or becomes, your ultimate tool kit.
This week is all about these insane chickpeas. I will stress, as always, to use the JARRED chickpeas- they’re a game changer and make this speedy dish fantastic.
So you’ve got a couple of options when it comes to the red peppers- you can char them yourself- then whack them in a bowl, cover with cling to steam for 5 mins, then peel and slice. You can ALSO use the jarred version. I’m not going to pretend that I grill and peel every time. Yes, it tastes better when you do and it’s not that much extra effort. However, if you’re in a rush and want this to be easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy so you concentrate on chatting to your pals or maybe playing some cards (see below for when to eat this) then use those gorgeous jarred red peppers.
SERVES 4
TIME: 30 mins
Vibe: SO SO EASY
I wanted to call this dish ‘let’s play cards and eat spicy chickpeas’ because that’s the when for me- and it was the dish I cooked when I sat and played cards with my mates. It’s THE dish for those nights when you’re having people over and you’re wanting to be chilled and maybe a little lazy (this guy is basically a one pot wonder), don’t want a ton of cleaning, BUT you do want to serve people something filling and *chefs kiss*.
Serve it with garlic bread and give people those amazing mini magnums for dessert, no one cares that you didn’t make dessert because mini magnums are fucking incredible.
The why… this dish is one of those dishes that’s super easy, but it kind of tastes like you’re the kind of person that cooked those chickpeas from dried and make your own stock. It’s both hearty and fresh - and it feels like you’ve taken real care in making it and you’ve really thought it through. But really, it takes 30 mins and you can totally skip charring your peppers if you cba. You’re welcome.
INGREDIENTS
1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to serve
1 onion, finely sliced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tbsp harissa paste (use tomato paste + a BIG pinch of chilli flakes if you can’t find harissa paste)
200g cherry tomatoes
125ml (a big glass) white wine
2 x 700g jar of chickpeas (OR 3 x 400g tin of chickpeas)
500ml veggie stock (use chicken if you’d like)
3 red peppers (or 3 roasted red peppers from a jar, drained and sliced)
1 lemon
150ml natural yogurt
Smoked almonds and parsley, roughly chopped, to serve
METHOD
Set the grill to high. Tip the oil into a pan over a medium high heat, add the onion with a big pinch of salt. Fry for 5-10 mins, stirring regularly until softened. Add the garlic along with the fennel seeds and toast for 2 mins further. Add the oregano and harissa paste, stir then pour in the wine. Bubble away until reduced by half.
Add the tomatoes and poke their skins with a knife to make them burst, stir for a minute, then tip in the chickpeas along with any water from the jar. Add the stock, then turn to a simmer and leave to bubble for 30 mins, stirring regularly- add a little more water if it sticks at all.
If you’re using fresh red peppers… put the red peppers on a tray and slide under the grill. Once they start to blacken, turn them over so they’re charred on all sides. You can do this if you have a bbq OR you have a gas stove, just char them straight on the flame, turning with tongs. Once charred, add the peppers to a bowl and cover with cling- steaming them like this makes them super east to peel.
Once they’re cool enough to handle, peel and discard the charred skins from the peppers, then roughly chop and add the soft (and delicious) peppers to the chickpeas. If using jarred red peppers- add them to the chickpeas now.
Add the juice of half of the lemon to the yogurt, and season well.
Taste the chickpeas, add the juice from the other half of the lemon, season well then remove from the heat. Spoon into bowls, top with the yogurt, smoked almonds and parsley. DIG IN.
Maybe not a trick, but plate it up nicely for your pals, just like this.
I think we can all agree, you need some lovely bowls to serve this kind of dish in- I love these guys from Sophie Conran .
You’re ALSO gonna need some nice chickpeas, and I really love these guys- I’m BIG on getting the jarred chickpeas, but these from Bold Bean Co are particularly delish.
Finally, you’re gonna wanna set the scene here and play some cards. Obvs you can use the cards you got from the airport (every set I own is from the airport) HOWEVER, if you want to upgrade, this set from Christian Lacroix is exactly what I’d want.
Join me next week, where I’ll be cooking a gorgeous aubergine and puy lentil dish. AND there will be a lotta info about wine. Can’t wait to see you there!