A simple 10-minute starter which you could double up for a big sharing plate. Make sure all the ingredients (especially the mozzarella) are at room temperature – I’ve eaten far too many fridge-cold tomatoes and cheeses that don’t taste of anything. Use any nuts, seeds or greens in this, but don’t skip toasting the wal¬nuts – it’s worth it and you’ve got a pan out already for the chickpeas.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp ghee or oil
- 240g cooked chickpeas
- 1 × 400g tin, drained and rinsed
- 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
- 2 tsp maple syrup
- 350g ripe cherry tomatoes, halved look out for the yellow ones
- 200g fresh mozzarella or burrata, roughly torn, or crumbled feta
- Sea salt and black pepper
Spinach and Walnut Pesto
- 8 walnut halves
- 1 big handful of baby spinach
- 1 big handful of fresh basil, leaves and stems plus a few extra for garnishing
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar or juice and zest of ½ lemon
- 1 small garlic clove roughly chopped
- 1 handful of grated Parmesan or pecorino
- 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil plus extra for drizzling
Serves 4 as sides, 10 mins
Method
- In a large frying pan, gently toast the walnuts for 1 minute until they smell fragrant, keeping an eye on them so they don’t catch. Transfer to a food processor with all the other pesto ingredients except the olive oil. Blitz, adding the oil as you go, until smoothish. Season to taste.
- Put the pan back on a medium heat with the ghee or oil, add the chickpeas, smoked paprika and a pinch of sea salt and fry for 2 minutes until golden brown. Drizzle over the maple syrup, add a pinch of salt and leave to bubble for 30 seconds. Toss once more to coat in the salty-sweet oil.
- Meanwhile, arrange the cherry tomatoes, torn mozzarella and extra basil leaves on a large platter, then scatter over the chickpeas, drizzle over the pesto and serve straight away while the chickpeas are still hot.
