braised chickpeas with zucchini

a really quick, weeknight dinner

Oct 23, 2024

i have so much to catch you guys up on! i really do. and i am excited to share more with you soon.

i truly thought that now we were moving into fall, my calendar would ease up a little, and i could perhaps have some downtime with work-related projects and dedicate more time to catching up on my substack, as well as more exciting writing projects in the works. but, alas—that has not been the case.

but, i am grateful to be busy. i joke that my cal will be the-death-of-me, but i love being busy. it makes me happy.

lots of updates and accompanying recipes coming soon. but here, in the interim is a really quick, but really delicious weeknight dinner. it is so easy to make but is so insanely good, i really should be illegal.

and this is the kind of cooking that i talk about often—simple, seasonal but so attainable.

this is a nod to simple italian peasant food that you will most likely find in the northern part of italy—where beans, legumes, and pulses are used in abundance.

the key to this dish, as you will see is lashings of pecorino, and i mean lashings.

i hope you enjoy!

braised chickpeas with petit pois, zucchini & pecorino

this comes together so quickly and is best enjoyed scooped up with some toasted sourdough—in my opinion, anyway. but this recipe is entirely gluten-free if you don’t use the sourdough for scooping, which is a bonus for all of my gluten-free friends.

you can make it more brothy depending on what you are going for and indeed, make this more of a soup if your heart desires. this particular version is the less brothy version and more of an appetizer, if you will. very cheesy, and good for scooping.

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serves 2-4 as an appetiser or 1-2 as an entree

2 cups of chickpeas, cooked from dry or tinned both work well here

5 cloves of garlic, sliced very thinly

2 whole zucchini, sliced very thinly—mandolin is useful here, if you have one

1 cup of fresh or frozen garden peas or petit pois

1/2 a lemon, juiced

2 cups for vegetable stock or filtered water

salt

black pepper

pecorino for finihsing, and lots of it

begin by gently sautéing the garlic over medium to low heat in a heavy-bottomed saute pan with a lid, or something similar. once the garlic is softened and browning at the edges just slightly, turn the heat down.

next, add in the thinly sliced zucchini and a dash of the vegetable stock. this will stop the garlic from cooking any further and help the zucchini soften a little.

after 2-3 minutes, add the drained chickpeas and the rest of the chicken stock. season with salt and pepper to taste. turn the heat back up to medium and pop the lid on. let this blip away for 10-15 minutes or until the zucchini has wilted into the chickpeas but not broken down entirely.

add in the fresh or frozen peas to cook with everything for the last 5 minutes. if you want this brothier or more soup-like, now is an excellent time to add more of your desired stock. check everything for seasoning.

serve in your favorite bowl with a squeeze of lemon, more flaky salt, lots and lots of chunky black pepper and a massive dusting of pecorino.

(i will usually let some of the pecorino melt into the chickpeas, then add even more)

simplicity at it’s finest—enjoy!