They are big, they are fat, they are floury and the most important P in our pantry. It’s the holy grail that we put into the oven to bake, which crisps outside and remains fluffy on the inside, it transforms when sprinkled with specks of salt. It can be mashed or even used as a thickener but importantly they keep us warm on cold, wintry nights. These are the POTATOES of winter nights, late evenings and an easy quick fix.
This recipe is a great one for using up potatoes with a handful of curly endive lettuce and baby, sweet chickpeas which are the smallest and smoothest chickpea that comes from Castile-León and protected by the PGI Garbanzo de Fuentesaúco. The dark caramel colour complements the vibrant green lettuce and is the perfect ingredient if you are in the mood for a “slow food” salad because it’s definitely worth the wait when you taste the tender nuttiness with fluffy like texture accompanied with flavourful ingredients.
Serves 2
Ingredients:
1 medium potato, cut into small cubes
2 tablespoons olive oil
¼ purple carrot, cut into thin slices
150 grams baby chickpeas (tinned or pressure cooked)
50 grams curly endive/ frisée lettuce, roughly torn
1 small radish, cut into thin slices
The juice and the zest of a large orange
½ teaspoon red chilli flakes
Freshly ground Maldon sea salt and pepper for seasoning
A generous handful of edible flowers for garnishing
CHICKPEA TIP
If boiling:
Soak overnight (at least eight hours) in water, then simmer slowly until tender for about three hours. When properly cooked the chickpeas will be tender but not mushy.
If pressure cooking:
Soak overnight (at least eight hours) in water, depending on the type of pressure cooker, cook the chickpeas in the cooker for about 30-40 minutes.
Method:
Pour the olive oil into a wide shallow-sided frying pan, add the potatoes and let them cook over medium heat. Sprinkle with Maldon sea salt and pepper.
After about 5 minutes add the sliced carrots to the pan and continue cooking till the vegetables are approaching tenderness.
Add the orange juice, zest and red chilli flakes and chickpeas to the pan. Let them warm through for 10 minutes.
Then stir the curly endive lettuce and radish into the pan. Cook for a further 2-3 minutes, sprinkle with aromatic, colourful flowers and serve immediately to enjoy the warm, fresh flavours.
Anisha Fernandez 