Chickpeas cacio e pepe

From the cookbook, Ottolenghi Test Kitchen Shelf Love

Recipe first, story last.

PREP: 20 minutes

COOK: 2 hours 10 mins

SOAKING: Overnight

SERVING SIZE: Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

300g dried chickpeas, soaked overnight in plenty of water and 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
3 tbsp olive oil
8 garlic cloves, crushed
80g Parmesan, finely grated, plus 1-2 optional Parmesan rinds
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 red chillies, thinly sliced into rounds, seeds and all
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
250g baby spinach (I used arugula)
15g parsley, roughly chopped
100g unsalted butter, fridge cold and cut into 2cm cubes
salt and black pepper

SERVE WITH:
Any kind of bread
Can be a main or side dish

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 160°C fan.
  2. Drain the chickpeas well and set them aside. Put 2 tablespoons of oil into a large, high-sided ovenproof sauté pan or cast-iron saucepan (make sure you have a lid) and place on a medium-high heat. Once hot, add the garlic and cook for 90 seconds, until starting to color.
  3. Add the Parmesan rinds, if using, the drained chickpeas, bicarbonate of soda, 1.2 litres of water and a very generous amount of coarsely cracked black pepper (give it about 40 grinds). Bring to the boil, skimming the scum from the surface as needed, then cover with the lid and bake in the oven for 75 minutes.
  4. Add ¾ teaspoon of salt and continue cooking, covered, for another 30 minutes, or until the chickpeas are very soft and the liquid has reduced by about half.
  5. Meanwhile, mix together the chillies, vinegar and a small pinch of salt in a small bowl. Set aside to pickle.
  6. Towards the last 10 minutes of cooking the chickpeas, put the last tablespoon of oil into a large frying pan on a medium-high heat and, once hot, cook the spinach, adding it to the pan in batches with ¼ teaspoon of salt until just wilted, about 4 minutes. Add the parsley and remove from the heat.
  7. When the chickpeas are ready, remove the lid and, while still hot from the oven but off the heat, add a quarter of the butter cubes and about 15g of grated Parmesan, mixing until the butter has melted into the sauce. Continue in this way, adding a quarter more of the butter and 15g more of Parmesan until you’ve used up all 100g of butter and 60g of cheese. Finally, add another very generous grind of coarsely ground black pepper. The sauce will have thickened significantly, coating the chickpeas nicely. Add a splash more water if you like it looser. Remove the Parmesan rinds, if using.
  8. Top with the spinach mixture, the pickled chillies and their liquid and a final sprinkling of Parmesan, serving any extra grated Parmesan alongside.

Story:

I was chatting with a woman about cooking and then showed her a picture of some ful mudammas that I had recently made. She immediately asked if I had heard of Yotam Ottolenghi. A few seconds later, a cookbook lands in my hands called Ottolenghi Test Kitchen: Shelf Love. I flipped through and found a page to try in the future involving peas. It was all in French, but I felt confident enough to take a picture of the recipe anyway. I still haven’t tried that recipe yet, but will eventually. A couple weeks later and there was a surprise. She gave me a copy of OTK: Shelf Love in English! It was such a sweet gesture. I later showed her the first recipe I made from the book, chickpeas cacio e pepe. As the book says, it’s an adaptation to a classic Italian recipe involving pasta so this is a wonderful alternative if someone is trying to add more fiber in their diet or looking for something different to do with their chickpeas. You can find it in the chapter “Who Does the Dishes” where the recipes focus on a one pot approach so you don’t have to have multiple pots and pans to soak and clean. Cacio e pepe means “cheese and pepper” so it makes sense to substitute the pasta with literally anything else.

Who is Yotam Ottolenghi? He is a popular chef with restaurants all over London, has written a number of cookbooks, has a line of tableware, and shows you how to cook all kinds of food with a “Modern Middle Eastern” touch. You can find many recipes on his website like Za’atar cacio e pepe or oven chips with cardamom mayonnaise. What’s cool about this recipe is that it allows you to use up the parmesan rind to add a deeper, intense flavor to the beans. Just remember to fish it out before serving. For a quicker approach, you can probably use canned chickpeas with just a touch of baking soda. I made this as a main dish for dinner along with some sausages which are pictured in the back. I know what kind of sausages they were, but the closest flavor I would give is kielbasa.