Chick...en...pea Casserole

Chickpea Perfection!

My friend has lent me Ottolenghi's 'Jerusalem' and I determined to perfect my hummus making skills to compete with those of my Israeli friends. To date I have been completely unable to achieve the fabulously creamy texture and taste that sets their hummus over and above your average shop bought version. This is no more! It seems that the secret to success is bicarbonate if soda. Once the chick peas have been soaked over night, drain them and put them into a saucepan over a high heat. Add bicarbonate of soda (1 tsp : 250g dried chickpeas) and cook for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly before adding the water and bringing to the boil. Once the chick peas have boiled for about 40 minutes they should be wonderfully soft and the skins will have separated from the pea.

Having cooked up a mass of chickpeas yesterday I decided to use the rest of them in tonight's casserole. I love chickpeas, Marcus, however, considers chickpeas 'evil'. Unfortunately for him I see it as a challenge to try to persuade him otherwise and like to sneak them into dishes where he might least expect them. Surely these wonderfully soft Ottolenghi style chickpeas will convert him.

Spiced with cumin, coriander, sumac and cinnamon this was a real "chuck it all in and boil it up" style of meal. No sweating of vegetables or browning of meat, I literally popped all the ingredients into the pan (except for the chickpeas as they were soft enough already) and let it simmer away until the chicken was falling off the carcass.

Once cooked, the chicken was stripped off the carcass and the chickpeas were added, along with some lemon juice and chopped coriander.

We ate this delicious chick...en...pea casserole with couscous to soak up the lovely sweet fragrant juices. To be honest there was a good deal more 'pea' than 'en'. For the girls and I this was not an issue but for Marcus, the chickpea hater, it was a little weighted in the wrong direction. His face was a picture when he spotted a morsel of chicken escape between a fork and a mouth and land on the floor! 

Chick...en...pea Casserole (Clean Plates 4/5)

1 Chicken Carcass

500ml Chicken Stock

2 Onions

3 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 Tbsp Clear Honey

1 Tsp Coriander Seeds

1 Tsp Cumin Seeds

1 Tsp Sumac

3cm Piece of Cinnamon Stick

1/2 tsp Harrisa Paste

300g Squash

300g Chickpeas (cooked weight)

1 Lemon

1Tbsp Chopped Fresh Coriander

Lightly toast the cumin and coriander seeds until fragrant and then grind to a fine powder.

Finely chop the onion and peel and dice the squash into 3cm chunks

Put the chicken carcass, onion, squash, oil, honey and spices together into a large pan. Pour over the stock and bring to the boil.

Cover with a lid, reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

Add the chickpeas and continue to cook for a further 25 – 30 minutes until the chicken is tender and falling off the carcass. Allow to cool.

Remove the carcass from the pan and take the meat off the bones.

Put the chicken back into the pan, squeeze in the juice from the lemon, stir through the fresh coriander and season to taste.