I just had to share this recipe with you as I’m a little in love with the cost as well as the instant simplicity. Using tinned chickpeas echoes cucina povera cooking and I find tinned beans never fail. Stacked high in my larder the tinned beans and pulses are a filler, my back up to push my humble family dishes that little further. I made these initially for my vegetarian daughter Natalia to substitute my mixed meatballs, but now find the rest of my family are asking for them too.

Get ready for how speedy they are to make and prepare.

Ingredients:

Makes 15 walnut size balls. Double the ingredients as required to prepare more for the freezer.

1 x 400g tin chickpeas, drained

50g Parmesan, grated (or a vegetarian substitute)

50g dried natural breadcrumbs

1 plump clove of garlic, peeled

1 large egg

Salt & pepper to season

Pinch of dried chilli

1/2 tsp. marjoram

Small bunch parsley & basil

Olive oil (For frying)

 

 

  1. Place all of the ingredients into a food processor and pulse for 1 minute.
  2. Scrape the contents into a clean bowl and stir.
  3. Pinch sections of the mixture and roll them into balls the size approximately of a walnut.
  4. Use all of the mixture and pop the balls onto a tray and chill for 30 minutes.
  5. Fry the balls off in a little olive oil until lightly coloured throughout. This will take approximately 10 minutes. At this point the chickpea balls can be cooled and frozen.

I like to serve mine dropped into a passata sugo with extra seasoning and fresh herbs.