CHICKPEA AND ANCHOVY CROSTINI

This is ripped off from something my friend Jacky served me recently; she in turn had ripped it off from a dish she ate a Polpo, a Venetian restaurant in Soho. If you do not like the idea of anchovies, don't worry: the flavour is very subtle, but I would argue it is essential to this dish. Choose a good bread for these crostini: I like to use a chewy sourdough or French country-style bread from Waitrose, and rather than toast the bread slices, I put them in the oven, turned it off and left them to dry out for an hour or so. The chickpea topping can be made in advance and set aside. Its texture is rather like hummous, but its flavour is quite different, though with the underlying nuttiness that comes from the chickpeas.




400g tin of chickpeas, drained of liquid
2-3 anchovy fillets
A pinch of salt
About 1 tbsp of olive oil
A small bunch of fresh basil, torn - for the garnish

Put all the ingredients in a liquidiser and whizz to a smooth puree. Spread onto the prepared bread slices and garnish with fresh basil.

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