← Recipe book

Warm chickpea, piquillo and preserved lemon salad

Verdict: Really, really good. This became one of my new favourite dishes. The warm version is way better.

Serves 6 alongside a roast · Source: Raymond Blanc, Simply Raymond (via Cookbook Review), where it is built in the juices of a harissa lamb roast

Ingredients

  • 2 tins (400 g each) chickpeas, drained
  • 230 g jar piquillo peppers, drained and chopped (jarred roasted red peppers work)
  • 2 preserved lemons, finely chopped, skin and pulp
  • 1 large handful parsley, coarsely chopped
  • ½ cup water
  • The roasting pan from a lamb roast, with its fond and 2 to 3 tbsp of its fat
  • Salt and pepper

Method

  1. While the roast cooks, drain the 2 tins of chickpeas and chop the peppers, the 2 preserved lemons and the parsley. Keep the parsley separate.
  2. When the roast comes out to rest, spoon the fat out of the pan, leaving 2 to 3 tbsp with the fond.
  3. Set the roasting pan on a burner. Add ½ cup water and scrape up all the fond.
  4. Add the chickpeas, peppers and preserved lemon. Bring to a boil, stir, and turn off the heat. It holds warm in the pan.
  5. At serving, stir in the parsley, salt and pepper, and the juices from the carving board. If it looks dry, add a glug of olive oil or a small spoon of harissa.

Without a roast

Warm, for 8
  • 3 cans (15 oz each) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 1 jar roasted red peppers or piquillos (about 350 g drained), chopped
  • 2 to 3 preserved lemons, seeds discarded, finely chopped
  • 1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped
  • 5 tbsp olive oil
  • Juice of 1 lemon, about 3 tbsp
  • About ¼ cup water, plus salt and pepper
  1. In a wide pan over medium, warm 5 tbsp olive oil with the chopped preserved lemon for 30 seconds.
  2. Add the 3 cans chickpeas, the peppers, the lemon juice and about ¼ cup water. Simmer 3 to 4 minutes, until the chickpeas are hot through.
  3. Off the heat, fold in all the parsley and season. Serve warm.

Room temperature, same ingredients without the water: warm 2 tbsp of the oil with the preserved lemon for 1 minute, toss with everything else and half the parsley, and rest on the counter until dinner, at least 2 to 3 hours. Fold in the remaining parsley before serving, with a squeeze of lemon if it tastes flat.

Notes

  • Salt last. Preserved lemon carries a lot.
  • Half batch for two: 1 tin chickpeas, half a jar of peppers, 1 preserved lemon, ¼ cup water, 2 tbsp fat.
  • Blanc builds this in the juices of a braised shoulder. A roast leg gives much less juice, hence the water and the measured fat.
  • Without a roast, treat the oil, lemon juice and water as a starting point and adjust to taste.