Chickpea Confit

Chickpea Confit is everything you want in a warm and hearty holiday appetizer. Confit simply means to slow cook in fat. Slowly baking chickpeas in extra virgin olive oil with some salt and aromatics renders the beans creamy, flavorful, and spreadable. Grab some of your favorite crusty bread, this one is going to be gone before you know it.

Fear the Potluck no more! I'm talking to all of you friends who don't think they're capable of bringing something show stopping to Thanksgiving potluck. This recipe is a basic dump and stir... that will make your friends and family think you are a master in the kitchen. All you've got to do is pick up these cheap and easy to find ingredients, the appetizer basically makes itself.

Some Advice:

I love to bake this dish in a nice Corningware dish with a lid. That way I can just carry it right to the party or the table from the oven. Less fuss, less dishes to clean. If you don't own a baking dish with a lid, feel free to use any baking dish the ingredients will fit in and cover the top with aluminum foil.

For the sake of flavor, please use good quality extra virgin olive oil for this recipe. It is also important to pick the right bread for serving. A hearty freshly toasted bread will stand up to the knife while spreading but also soak up some of the super flavorful oil. And don't bother getting caught up in your knife cuts. I like to have a uniform mince of shallots because the tiny little onions are visible when you spread the confit on toast. But if knife skills are not in your wheel house, no worries, keep it rustic and just chop the shallots up small.

This is a great recipe for embellishment and experimentation. The basis of this Chickpea Confit is chickpeas, quality fat/oil, salt, spices, and aromatics. Feel free to play around with the flavors and have fun! Having trouble finding shallots? Use fresh garlic cloves instead! Love the flavor of Mediterranean hummus? Make it with cumin and sesame! The options are endless.

Chickpea Confit

YIELD

Serves 6

ACTIVE TIME

10 minutes

TOTAL TIME

2 hours 10 min

INGREDIENTS

• 1 can of Chickpeas (drained and rinsed)

• 1 shallot (minced)

• 1 lemon (sliced)

• 1 small bay leaf

• 4 sprigs of fresh thyme

• 10 to 12 peppercorns

• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 300F

2. Drain the chickpeas and rinse with cool water until there is no more foam.

3. Add all ingredients to a baking dish with a lid and stir to combine.

4. Bake with the lid on (or foil) for 2 to 3 hours.

5. Serve warm with toasty bread.

NOTES

You can make this dish up to two days ahead. Reheat in the oven until warmed throughout.

You may discard the bay leaf, peppercorns, and lemons if you wish to before serving. I like to leave them in as a pretty garnish but I discourage people from trying to eat them on their toast.

Happy Potluck'ing :)