Roasted Chickpeas alla Cri

When I lived in Florence, my best friend and I used to go to the organic market happened once a month in Santo Spirito. Seriously, it's as if we LIVED for that market to come - we would debate: is it the first Sunday of the month, or the last? These are the debacles to deal with when living in Italy - the randomness of monthly markets and whether they fall on the first Sunday, second, or well, you get the idea here. My suggestion is just to pass by every Sunday to see if you're missing something.

Besides the wonderful soaps, potions and toys that we putzed over for ages, they had a great fruit and nut stand. My best friend would mull over the selection for ages, trying to pick out the best nosh of the season. Without a doubt, she almost always chose the roasted chickpeas. Or was that me? Maybe she bought it and I ate all of it, which means my memory is a bit fuzzy.......

So I've re-created a roasted chickpea recipe which is SUPER versatile. You can do it plain, with just salt (I recmomend a LOT of salt) or you can mix it up with a selection of spices. The best part is, that you can roast these and use them post-roast in salads and main dishes, or leave them to sit in the oven to roast and dry out a bit longer, so they turn quite hard and are perfect for snacking! Kind of like a dehydrator, but without the extra appliance!

Roasted Chickpeas

3 cups freshly cooked chickpeas, or 2 cans rinsed chickpeas

salt and pepper to taste

extra virgin olive oil

spicy spice selection: paprika, cumin, coriander, chili powder

Preheat the oven to 200c/400f. In the meantime, rinse and drain the chickpeas, and leave to dry as much as possible. Mix together the spice mix (is using), and prepare a baking sheet by putting the drained and dried chickpeas on it, drizzle with an abundant amount olive oil, and dust with salt and pepper. If using the spice mix, shake over all the chickpeas, and roll around so that all the chickpeas are coated in the mix.

Place in the oven, and cook til golden brown - about 20-25 minutes. If you want to use these in a salad, I recommend taking them out now. My favorite salad to do with these is: rucola, sun-dried tomatoes, sprinkled with these chickpeas. A perfect meal in itself!

Otherwise, if you want to use these as a noshing snack, turn off the oven, but leave them in overnight to dry out more. You will notice in the morning that they are nice and crisp, and if not (if you live in a humid environment this might be so) turn the oven on low, about 100c and dry them out again for 10 minutes, leaving them to cool in the oven. Poof! Chickpea nosh supreme. Make sure to keep it in a well-sealed container to preserve their freshness and all your hard work!!

Comments

[Christine Curran]

Hah! I am such a good influence. Shopping, snacking...I definitely have my priorities. God I miss that market, those treats, and especially you! I think I will go get some chickpeas to roast this afternoon.