Inzimino di Ceci - Chickpeas and Kale

Two of my favourite cook books are Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers 'The River Cafe Cook Book' volumes one and two. These are my basic go to books for any Italian recipes I require.

Every recipe I have tried from these books have been amazing, well written and easy to follow. I highly recommend these to anyone who is wanting to explore Italian cuisine.

This is my version of their Inzimino di Ceci, or Chickpeas with Swiss chard. I am not fond of chard, it always have a very earthy, slightly muddy taste to me. So, instead of chard I have found Cavolo nero to be a good substitute.

Cavolo nero is a type of kale that is readily available in my area, and tastes good alongside the chickpeas in this recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 Garlic clove, minced

• 1 Onion, diced

• 2 Carrots, diced

• 200g Kale, stems removed

• 1 lemon, juiced

• 200g cooked chickpeas

• 5 tbsp of a tomato based pasta sauce

• 1 handful of parsley, chopped

• 150ml White wine

• 5 tbsp olive oil

• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Add the 5 tbsp of olive oil to a deep frying pan.

Fry the diced onion, minced garlic and carrot over a medium heat for 5 minutes.

After the carrots and onions have cooked for 5 minutes, add the washed kale and sauté for another 5 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper.

Add the wine and cook to reduce almost completely. When the wine has reduced add the cooked chickpeas.

Next, stir in the tomato pasta sauce. Cook for a further 5 minutes, until the chickpeas are heated through.

Turn off the heat and add the fresh parsley and lemon juice, stir and serve.

Drizzle over some extra virgin olive oil and serve with crusty bread.

#italian #vegan #chickpeas #kale #rivercottage #vegetarian