Chickpea flour: 10 tasty recipes

Chickpea flour. Chickpea flour represents a particularly versatile ingredient as regards its possible uses in the kitchen. It is also rich in beneficial properties and has a content not to be underestimated in vegetable proteins and mineral salts such as iron, calcium and phosphorus. To always have freshly ground chickpea flour available, it is possible to equip yourself with what is necessary for its home preparation. It is a gluten-free flour, suitable for celiacs. Let's find out ten simple and tasty recipes in which to use it.

chickpea flour

La chickpea flour it represents a particularly versatile ingredient as regards possible uses in the kitchen. It is also rich in beneficial properties and has a content not to be underestimated of vegetable proteins and mineral salts such as iron, calcium and phosphorus. To always have freshly ground chickpea flour available, you can equip yourself with what you need for it home preparation. It is a gluten-free flour, suitable for celiacs. Let's find out together ten simple and tasty recipes in which to use it.

Index

Omelette without eggs

The chickpea flour can be used in place of eggs for the preparation of one vegetable omelette consisting entirely of vegetable ingredients. This omelette can be cooked in a pan or poured into an oiled pan and prepared in the oven, for a lighter but still tasty version. We had suggested the recipe for the preparation of the chickpea flour omelette with zucchini, or the recipe for the mini-faririttata with peppers, but you can use other vegetables as you like, to be chopped or cut into thin slices before incorporating them into the dough.

Panelle

The chickpea flour is the main ingredient of one of the dishes of the Sicilian tradition: the panelle. They can be served hot as an aperitif, as a main course or as a snack, alone or in a soft sandwich. They can be flavored using parsley or fennel seeds. The original recipe ne provides for frying, but a lighter version of them can be obtained thanks to baking. You can consult the recipe for the preparation of panelle.

Falafel

The chickpea falafel is a typical dish of the cuisine of Arab and Israeli world, which according to tradition should be prepared starting from dried chickpeas to be left to soak for a very long time and to blend without boiling. Chickpea flour can be useful as thickening ingredient in the preparation of falafel, so that the dough is more compact. The falafel recipe can be found in this article.

Chickpea porridge

The chickpea farinata is one of the typical dishes of Ligurian cuisine. The chickpea farinata is cooked in the oven, on a low-sided, round or rectangular pan. To prepare it, mix 100 grams of chickpea flour and 300 milliliters of water with a whisk, with 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Let it rest for at least an hour and pour into the bottom of a pan. Bake the farinata at 180 ° C for about 45 minutes, until golden brown. You can add to the mixture herbs such as oregano or rosemary and serve with a sprinkle of black pepper. Here the complete recipe.

Breadsticks

Chickpea flour is an ingredient suitable for preparation of breadsticks, combined with whole wheat flour. To 200 grams of wholemeal flour combine 100 grams of chickpea flour. Add 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, a pinch of salt, seeds and aromatic herbs to taste and water as required until the mixture is smooth and homogeneous, to be kneaded with your hands. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes e shape your breadsticks. Bake at 180 ° C for about 20 minutes, until golden brown.

Gnocchi

The chickpea flour can be used in combination with wheat flour or in its replacement in the normal preparation of potato gnocchi. Using only chickpea flour you will get a completely gluten-free version of this beloved dish. The potatoes must be boiled or steamed and mashed with a fork or a vegetable mill, and then add chickpea flour (or chickpea and wheat) sufficient to obtain a mixture that can be worked with your hands and suitable for forming a dough to be modeled to obtain the classic gnocchi, which must be cooked in boiling salted water for about ten minutes.

Crepes

An alternative to the classic crepes prepared with wheat flour is represented by the use of chickpea flour. To do this, you must obtain a compound that will appear quite liquid, mixing 80 grams of chickpea flour in 250 milliliters of water (the doses can be increased in proportion), with the addition of two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of salt, pepper and turmeric. Mix everything with a whisk and pour half a ladle of the mixture into a small heated pan lightly greased with extra virgin olive oil, which must be left to brown on both sides. Once you have prepared the crepes, you can move on to the filling, according to your tastes.

Batter

With chickpea flour it is possible to obtain a batter that is particularly suitable for breading of courgette flowers and vegetables to cook in a pan. Unlike the mixture obtained for the preparation of farinata or crepes, which must be rather liquid, the chickpea flour-based batter needs to be rather dense to be used. So proceed by mixing a few tablespoons of chickpea flour in a dish depending on the amount of batter you want to obtain, together with enough water to give life to a rather dense mixture. Water can be replaced by beer to obtain a batter that will swell more during cooking, or a pinch of yeast natural powder for sweets (cream of tartar), in order to achieve a similar effect.

Fresh pasta

An interesting use of chickpea flour is its own denaturation by cooking in the oven, so that it can be used to obtain a dough suitable for the preparation of fresh pasta. It is a process that allows legume flour, such as chickpea or lentil flour, to be processed as in the case of wheat flour. More information on this can be found at this address.

Vegetable burger

Chickpea flour is very useful as an ingredient for making breading of vegetable burgers prepared at home or like thickener in order to make the compound more workable. For both purposes, chickpea flour can be used in place of breadcrumbs, preferably after briefly toasting it in a pan. Vegetable burgers can be prepared using vegetables or legumes as basic ingredients. In this article you will find five recipes for their realization.

Marta Albè

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