One-Pot Wonders
by: Alexandra Stafford
August22,2016
4.5
8 Ratings
- Prep time 8 hours
- Cook time 1 hour 20 minutes
- Serves 4
Jump to Recipe
Author Notes
Inspired by a recipe for a warm panzanella salad with tomatoes recipe in Daniel Humm and Will Guidara's I Love New York, this recipe replaces the bread with chickpeas and adds feta (then adds back olive oil-crisped bread on the side).
You need juicy tomatoes here to create a broth, which is why heirloom is suggested, but feel free to add a handful of cherry tomatoes to the mix, too—the different colors and shapes make it pretty/potentially more appetizing. Totally optional.
I like the brine-soaking method for cooking beans/legumes, but feel free to cook your chickpeas however you like. —Alexandra Stafford
- Test Kitchen-Approved
What You'll Need
Ingredients
- Cooking the chickpeas
- 1 pounddry chickpeas
- 3 tablespoonsplus 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- Few sprigs thyme
- Half an onion
- Stewy chickpeas with tomatoes
- 1/2 cupextra-virgin olive oil
- 6 cloves garlic, peeled, and smashed
- 4 cupscooked chickpeas
- 1 cupdiced red onion
- 4 cupsdiced heirloom tomatoes (see notes above)
- 3 tablespoonsvinegar, white balsamic or red wine or whatever you have on hand
- 1 bunchbasil (about a cup of leaves), roughly chopped
- 1 tablespooncapers
- Flaky sea salt, such as Maldon, and freshly cracked pepper to taste
- 1/2 cupfeta
- Good, crusty bread, optional (see notes above)
Directions
- Dissolve the 3 tablespoons of salt into a large bowl of water (your largest mixing bowl, or about 4 quarts water). Add the chickpeas and soak for 8 to 24 hours. Drain, and place in a pot with the onion, thyme, and remaining teaspoon of salt. Cover with water by three inches. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and cook at the gentlest simmer for about an hour or until the chickpeas are cooked through. Let chickpeas cool in their cooking liquid. Discard thyme sprigs, and onion. Store chickpeas in their cooking liquid.
- In a large sauté pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the 4 cups cooked chickpeas and 1 teaspoon sea salt and cook for 4 to 5 minutes or until heated through.
- Lower the heat to medium-low, add the red onion and cook for 1 more minute. Add the tomatoes and cook for 1 more minute or until they begin to break down. Add the vinegar, capers, and basil, and toss to coat. Season with pepper to taste. Turn off the heat. Crumble the feta over top and toss to coat. Taste, and add more salt, pepper, capers, or feta to taste.
Tags:
- Mediterranean
- Capers
- Vegetable
- Vinegar
- Chickpea
- Bean
- Feta
- Tomato
- Thyme
- One-Pot Wonders
- Summer
- Fall
See what other Food52ers are saying.
-
rose
-
Megan Nestor
-
Megan Hensler
-
Cheryl
-
epicharis
I write the blog alexandra's kitchen, a place for mostly simple, sometimes fussy, and always seasonal recipes. My cookbook, Bread Toast Crumbs is available everywhere books are sold.
Popular on Food52
46 Reviews
rose August 25, 2020
It’s not clear whether juice from the cooked beans should be strained? Clarify, please and thank you
Alexandra S. August 25, 2020
Strain the chickpeas! Save the liquid if you cooked the beans from scratch ... you can use it to increase the amount of broth if necessary — I like it stewy — and to flavor it, too. Don't use the liquid from the can, if you are using canned chickpeas. Adding water would be better.
Megan N. November 13, 2018
This is wonderful, especially at the end of summer when tomatoes are plentiful. It also works very well with a food dehydrator (for backpacking, etc.) I cube the bread and sometimes swap out the chickpeas for great northern beans. Delicious!
physhunphool April 27, 2018
ok, so this recipe was great, but i think 1 lb of chickpeas is too much. I cooked 1/2 lb of dried chickpeas and had 4 cups cooked. 1lb is a huge amount.
last comment, no capers? olives are a great sub.
Megan H. August 21, 2017
I don't have capers. Any substitutions?
Alexandra S. August 21, 2017
I would just leave them out or add some minced olives or more salt to taste. It will be fine without them!
Megan H. August 21, 2017
Okay thank you!
Cheryl August 1, 2017
This was so, so good! I followed the recipe and... doubled the garlic and used 2 T capers. Like others, I sauteed the onions first (I must have used 2 C red onions), then garlic, then chickpeas. I made vegan feta cheese (http://www.thefullhelping.com/vegan-barley-greek-salad-herbed-tofu-feta/ By the way, this salad is incredible!) and served over quinoa. Can't wait to have again tomorrow!
epicharis July 17, 2017
Loved this even on a hot summer day. Just divine flavors.
ghainskom January 10, 2017
I used canned chickpeas to make this, and reduced the amount of olive oil, still using it generously. I mostly had cherry tomatoes on hand so used those and some homemade beef stock I had on hand. I'm eating as I type with a selfmade pumpkin bread and it's yummy. Fast and easy, too.
Alexandra S. January 10, 2017
Yay! So happy to hear this!
Yayita January 9, 2017
3.6 meatball
4.1 lamb
59 potato
36 and 38
I made this, and I would do it again as a side dish. At first I was reluctant to use 1/2 cup of olive oil but I did it and I am glad as I can see it getting dry quick before he tomatoes are added. In reading the comments I saw that some people were adding the red onions before the chickpeas or just cooking them longer. As a result I added the red onions before the chick peas and allowed them to soften them. I also added 2 more cups of chickpeas on top of the 4 detailed in the recipe. I added tomatoes as directed but I felt it needed more juice so next time I will add one more tomatoes to make it a bit more saucy. If you plan to photograph this, make sure to take pics of it right after adding the basil as the basil turn a dark black green later on. Great recipe that can easily be a standalone dinner entree or a great side dish.
Alexandra S. January 10, 2017
So happy to hear this, yayita! And I know, the 1/2 cup of oil to start is a little off putting ... but so good :)
mauldwright November 14, 2016
As tomoatoes are long out of season right now, wondering if it'd work to replaced them with canned tomoatoes?
Alexandra S. November 15, 2016
I wouldn't. I loved canned tomatoes in certain applications but I think for this one, which calls for such a brief cooking period, the finished dish would just taste too canned. I'm sorry!
AnneHD November 13, 2016
Delicious! We made it twice over the course of a few weeks, and doubled the recipe the second time. The only change we made was to add the red onion before the chickpeas, so it cooks a little longer.
Alexandra S. November 14, 2016
Nice! Love that idea.
Hallie September 9, 2016
Made this last night, so good and exactly the easy recipe I needed after a long day, will definitely make again! Only change is that I would let the onions cook a little longer next time and with the garlic because I used canned chickpeas.
Alexandra S. September 9, 2016
That makes sense! Great to hear all of this :)
MaineMom September 8, 2016
This was so good I've made it twice, the first time with chickpeas and the second with white beans. I recommend white beans too; they dissolved some and added nice texture and flavor.
Alexandra S. September 8, 2016
So happy to hear this! Can't wait to try this with beans.
Rabia S. September 7, 2016
Sooooo good! This is the perfect late summer recipe. I used canned chickpeas and goat cheese since that is what I had on hand. The goat cheese melted into a delectable broth.
Alexandra S. September 7, 2016
Goat cheese sounds so good! Glad to hear canned chickpeas worked out!
deanna1001 September 1, 2016
Fabulous. And if you cooked the chickpeas earlier, like yesterday, or use canned, it takes about 10 minutes. Great weeknight meal!
Alexandra S. September 1, 2016
So happy to hear this, Deanna!
deanna1001 September 1, 2016
BTW - I comment on your blog directly as Dee...
Alexandra S. September 1, 2016
Dee Greenwood?! Hi!! Thank you for letting me know :)
yiayia September 1, 2016
This is so delicious! I would encourage IKemp to soak the beans--so easy and really the flavor and texture aren't comparable to canned beans. You can cook the beans even a few days ahead of time and store in their liquid in the fridge. The dish comes together in just a matter of minutes! I added some more capers as suggested and also added the feta in chunks a minute or so before to soften it. Tonight with the leftovers, I'll reheat and then add some more fresh basil to brighten the colors. The flavors are so fresh and really do work for summer. Great recipe!
Alexandra S. September 1, 2016
So happy you liked this yiayia! I like a lot of capers too :)
Susan September 1, 2016
Is there nutritional information for this recipe?
Alexandra S. September 1, 2016
So sorry, I don't. You could enter the ingredients into myfitnesspal or some other site that calculates calories. Good luck!
IKemp August 29, 2016
Would it be possible to use canned chickpeas or is cooking the chickpeas with the thyme and onion integral to the flavor of the dish?
IKemp August 29, 2016
Would it be possible to use canned chickpeas or is cooking the chickpeas with the thyme and onion integral to the flavor of the dish?
Alexandra S. August 29, 2016
I have not tried it, so I cannot say, but I imagine it will still be delicious. Go for it! And let us know how it turns out :)
Brittany A. August 29, 2016
If using canned chickpeas, would you recommend retaining the liquid or draining before adding to the dish?
Alexandra S. August 29, 2016
I would drain them. Good luck!
Chef K. August 29, 2016
Made this last night-no changes-it was great!
Alexandra S. August 29, 2016
So happy to hear this Chef Ken!
Molly August 27, 2016
This was absolutely fantastic! Thank you!
Alexandra S. August 27, 2016
So happy to hear this, Molly!
