This past summer while in Greece, I passed through Athens to/from some Aegean islands.
Athens is full of dining options…too much! This is year I visited some new places along with some old favourites.
One of those was The Karamanlitka to Fani, a deli and eatery serving up meze and appetizer dishes. There’s a good wine list, an array of tsipouro and Ouzo and cold beer.
One of the dishes I ordered was the chickpeas topped with pastourma. Pastourma is an aired-cured beef product that was brought to mainland Greece from Asian Minor Greeks.
Many delis in Greece offer this and outside of Greece, it can be found at Middle Eastern, Turkish and Greek specialty stores. If you can’t find pastourma, Soutzouki style sausage (or your favourite sausage) will do.
Braised Chickpeas with Pastourma
Course: Appetizer4-6
servings30
minutes15
minutesIngredients
pre-heated 350F oven
2 cans (540ml) chickpeas
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 medium onions, peeled and sliced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cups of tomato sauce
3 bay leaves
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. sea salt
8-10 slices of pastourma
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
Directions
- Open the cans of chickpeas and place in a strainer to drain. Rinse under cold water and drain excess water.
- Place in a baking vessel along with the olive oil, onions, garlic, tomato sauce, bay leaves and black pepper.
- Toss to combine, cover and place in your pre-heated oven for 1hr. 15 minutes. Uncover, stir. Add salt to taste, stir in.
- Transfer to a platter or bowls, tear the pastourma and top, garnish with parsley and serve with good bread.
Notes
- You can skip the pastourma and make this a vegetarian dish
- If you wish to use dried chick peas, soak 1 cup in water with a pinch of baking soda for 12 hours
